Fighter
by callmebiles
Summary: Daryl / OC Please read! Everything will be explained in story! Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

_So this is it, then, huh? This is how I die?_

She couldn't believe it. For weeks, she had been on her own. Ever since she got separated from her group. The second she grouped up again, this shit happened. She never should have helped that son of a bitch. She knew that he would turn around and bite her in the ass. She just didn't think that she would fall for it a second time. She never should've went to that God-forsaken city. Never would've. But he always said Atlanta. Little did the two of them now, it was already overrun. She didn't even know if he was alive. Of course, she'd hoped, but hope doesn't get you very far anymore.

She was hungry. She was more than thirsty. The dead in the other room were starting to smell worse than ever. Her leg was bad, too. The blood loss was making her feel light-headed. She couldn't feel the cut. Not over her growling stomach and burning, dry throat. Her eyes felt heavy. She was going to die. At least now, she wouldn't have to live in this hell hole anymore. This would be the way to go: bleeding out instead of being eaten alive.

She took a deep breath and let her eyelids fall. There was no point in fighting. She was too hungry, too thirsty, and way too tired of trying. Her eyes couldn't have been shut for more than ten minutes before she head the outside door creak open.

"Had enough in him to take out these two sumbitches. One handed." It was a deep southern drawl. One that she would know anywhere. She opened her mouth to try and call out to him. Nothing came out. She tried to make some spit in her mouth to moisten (I know we all hate that word, I'm sorry) her mouth somewhat. "Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails." He continued. I felt the ground move slightly as someone got closer to my hiding place.

"Any man can pass out from blood loss." This was the closest voice, "No matter how tough he is." The closet door opened and the light shown in. She closed her eyes, shielding the brightness. As her eyes adjusted, she noticed the man dressed as a cop had his gun cocked and pointed at me. She looked at him, pleadingly.

"Daryl." She managed to whisper, not nearly loud enough for anyone to hear. "Daryl Dixon." She tried again, louder this time.

"Daryl." The cop called, urgently.

"Whacha got, Rick?" he asked. She heard his footsteps approach. 'Rick' gestured to the woman with the barrel of his gun.

"She knows your name." Rick answered, moving out of the way. When Daryl came into view, she smiled, knowing she'd been saved. Knowing that he'd help her.

"Isabell?" he questioned. Daryl couldn't believe what was in front of him right now. He was told that she was dead.

"Daryl." she sighed again, closing her eyes. Daryl squat down to her level, shaking her lightly.

"Uh-uh, Izzy, you gotta stay awake." He turned behind him. "China-Boy." Daryl called. "Water." 'China-Boy appeared, mumbling something about Korea and rifling through a backpack. He threw Daryl a water bottle, who caught it effortlessly. He unscrewed the cap and helped the girl to drink it. Even though the water was warm, it felt great going down her bone dry throat. She tried to sit up more when he pulled the water away, but She couldn't push pressure on her cut leg.

"Son of a bitch!" she cursed between her teeth. Daryl's eyes shot to her leg.

"Shit, Iz, wha'd you do?" He asked, pouring a little bit of water over her cut to clean the dry blood.

"Fucking Merle." She answered, as he ripped off a strip of fabric from her shirt, exposing her midriff. He tied that around her cut. She hissed in pain.

"C'mon, Izzy. Don't be no wimp."

Isabell scoffed, closing her eyes, tight, trying not to focus on the pain that was shooting up her leg. "You'd be doin' the same if you got hit with a saw." She coughed, reaching for the water. She drank half of what was left before Daryl took it away from her. "Hey!" she objected.

"You said Merle did this?"

Isabell shook her head. "Not directly. Stupid bastard was handcuffed to the roof, 'bout to get eat by the dead. I took 'em out and found him."

"And the cut?" Daryl asked, wanting to make sure that it wasn't a bite.

"I found a saw. Tried to saw the 'cuffs. Damn thing was too dull and I was pushin' too hard." She shrugged. "Just slipped, I guess."

"Do ya know where he went?" Daryl asked.

Isabell shook her head. "I'm sure he couldn't have gone far. He was bleedin' a lot."

Daryl nodded, and held out a hand for me to take it. Isabell pouted. She didn't want to stand. Her leg was too bad. She didn't want to be in pain. "C'mon, Iz. We gotta get outta here or we're walker bait." She took a deep breath, and nodded, taking his hand. Leave it to Daryl to push Isabell and make her stronger. She missed that about him. Isabell stood with his help and felt that her leg wasn't as bad as she remembered. She wanted to step forward, to hug him, but he pushed me away. "Merle shouldn't be too far then. We gotta find 'im 'fore he – "

"Hell, no!" She protested, interrupting Daryl.

"What?" Daryl questioned, giving her a hard stare.

"I said, no. I'm not rescuing his sorry ass."

"Isabell, that's my brother." He said, pointing towards the office door.

"I don't care who he is." She glared. "You don't see it, do ya?" She scoffed. Isabell gestured to the closet she was hiding in. "Look around! Do you see any of my supplies? Scraps? Empty water bottles?" The others in Daryl's group stood back, unsure of what to do. "I helped Merle outta those 'cuffs, injurin' myself in the process and the bastard took my stuff and left me for dead. Again." Isabell stressed. Neither of them said anything for a moment. After the silence, Daryl scoffed at her and walked out of the room shouting for his brother. Isabel groaned. "Stupid hillbilly." She mumbled, looking to the others. They stood back at a safe distance. "Y'all can stop freakin' out. I ain't bit."

Rick cleared his throat and stepped forward. "How do you know Daryl?" he questioned.

Isabell laughed to herself. "It's a long story, Sheriff." She admitted. He continued to stare at her, obviously not accepting her answer. Isabell sighed and rolled her eyes. "He's my best friend. Known each other since we were tykes. Happy?" Rick nodded, leaving China-Boy and a black man in the room. "Hey, China." She called. He looked to her with an almost annoyed look. "You mind helpin' a lady out?" she smirked, flirtatiously. He looked to the black man who gave him a shrug. "Aw, c'mon. I can't hardly walk. And you already left Merle back here to die. I'm sure Daryl might _actually kill you_ if you left me behind." China slumped and walked over to her. She put an arm around his shoulders. "Thanks, China."

"It's Glenn." Isabell double-taked to him.

"Glenn?" she asked to clarify. He nodded. "Alright, Glenn. I'm Isabell. Or Iz. Whatever blows your skirt up."

"This is T-Dog." He told her, moving his head towards the black man. Isabell nodded, not really knowing what else to say. Glenn helped her down the stairs into a kitchen. Daryl was shouting for his brother in the next room. Isabell rolled her eyes, looking around for food. There wasn't any. Isabell pouted. Glenn noticed her struggle and pulled away from her. She stumbled. T-Dog caught her arm before she fell to the floor. Glenn apologized for letting her go by handing her a granola bar. Isabell greedily ripped it open and took a small bite, destined to enjoy the snack.

"Merle!" Isabell's heave was interrupted by Daryl joined them in the kitchen with Rick Isabell shushed Daryl, earning a glare from him.

Rick agreed with her. "We're not alone here, remember?"

"Screw that!" Daryl protested. "He could be bleeding out." He turned to his friend. "You said so yourself."

Isabell nodded. "I did. But I didn't mean it as a bad thing." The corners of his mouth tightened. "You and I both know that he's a pain in the ass. You really think he's got your best interests in mind?" Isabell's eyes shot to the stove that was lit. She hobbled over to the appliance, noticing some sort of iron with something melted on it as well as a familiar belt. "Daryl, this is his." She said, holding the belt out to him. "We pulled it tight around his arm, so he wouldn't bleed much." Daryl took the belt from her and looked at the unknown object.

"What's that?" he asked. Isabell shrugged. Rick came up and took a look for himself.

Rick shook his head. "It's skin. He cauterized the stump. Closed it up."

"Son of a bitch." Isabell said, exasperated.

"Told you he was tough." Daryl argued. "Nobody can kill Merle, but Merle."

"D, hold on." Isabell calmed him. "He lost a lot of blood." He stared at her almost lost. Isabell bit her lip when she realized that he probably doesn't have any of these guys call him D.

"Guys." T-Dog called. Everyone turned to see him standing next to a broken window. "None of that stopped him room bustin' out." Isabell shook her head, not believing Merle's resilience.

"He left the building?" Glenn questioned. "Why the hell would he do that?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Daryl pushed. "He's out there. He's doin' what he's gotta do. Survivin'." Isabell limped over to Daryl's side and put a hand on his arm. His muscle instantly relaxed under her touch.

"Can I talk to you?" she asked. Daryl stared at her face, expressionless. She practically begged him with her own facial expression. His eyes moved to Rick. Hers followed them.

"Five minutes." Rick ordered. "Then we gotta move on. Those guns hold priority now." Daryl and Isabell nodded. The others shuffled out of the room. Glenn was grabbed things that he would find useful along the way. After they were cleared out, Daryl wouldn't say anything to Isabell.

"Will you say something?" She questioned. "'I'm glad you're okay.' Hug me. I'm good with just 'bout anythin'." She begged. Daryl looked at her for a second then started to pace the room. Isabell groaned. "Daryl!"

Daryl stopped and walked over to me. He wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulder. She smiled into his chest, wrapping her arms around him. "He said you was dead. You were dead, that's why I didn't go back."

"I figured Merle told you that." She pulled away from him. "The look on your face when you saw me, told me exactly wha' happened. You looked like you'd seen a ghost."

"Shut up." he said, almost angrily. He pulled out of her grasp. I wanted to go back to ya." He said, shyly. "I wanted ta save – "

"I'm glad that you didn't." Isabell interrupted. He turned back to her, confused. She shrugged. "None of us woulda made it outta there alive. I barely did." She pulled up her sleeve o show him a few scars. "They aren't bites. I wear sleeves so people I come 'cross don't kill me on the spot. They're from climbin' my ass outta there."

He turned away. "I'm sorry."

Isabell laughed. "You underestimate me, D. I am more than capable of lookin' after myself." He faced her again. "I woulda, too. After I didn't find you right away, I came here. 'Cause that's what you said. When I got here and saw how overrun it was, I gave up hope. Then I found Merle on the roof. And he said you were alive and close. He said he'd bring you back here for help. But that was this morning. He said, it would take a few hours. But three hours turned to five and seven. Merle left me with nothin'." Isabell told him. "I was so hungry. So thirsty. My leg was too painful. There was no way I'd be leavin' that closet alive. I wouldn't ever find you. Call it sappy all you want, but the only thing I could think about was you." she paused, feeling water sting her eyes. "And her." she swallowed. He looked up at Isabell, painfully. He felt exactly what she did. He didn't have to say it. Isabell knew how he felt about _her_.

"Don't you dare bring that up." He ordered out of anger, but it was quiet and that scared her. "With all this shit, I don' need ta be thinkin' o' her, too."

"She's safe. That's all that matters. I just wanted to be with her. I want to be with her. more than anything." Daryl walked over and crashed his lips to Isabell's, stopping her from continuing my speech. He pulled away, holding her small, dirt-covered face between his large, calloused hands.

"Don't say that." He said, forcefully. "You're a fighter. You needa fight your way outta this." He used his thumbs to wipe away the tears that had fallen down her face. "Promise me." he said, between his teeth. "Promise me you won't stop. We can't go back now." Isabell nodded her head. "You and me. We'll get through this. She wants us to."

"And Merle?" she asked him. He released his head. "What are we gonna do about him?"

"We look around for a bit. Maybe he's out there. He'll find his way back to camp."

"Camp?" Isabell questioned. "You mean, you don't stay here in the city?"

Daryl shook his head. "'Course not." He exclaimed, as if it should have been obvious. "With those walkers out there, it'd never be safe. We gotta site not far from here." Rick came back into the room.

"We gotta move." He said. Daryl and Isabell nodded. Rick turned to her. "You good to walk? You can't be a parta this if you're gonna slow us down."

"I won't." Isabell assured him. T-Dog and Glenn joined us back in the kitchen.

T-Dog spoke. "What are Merle's odds out there anyway?" Daryl glared at him. Isabell grabbed his arm to hold him back from hitting the man.

"No worse than bein' handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry bastards."

"Wait," Isabell pitched, "You guys 'cuffed him up there?" Rick and T-Dog looked away. "And these are the people you sleep next to at night?" she asked Daryl. He shrugged. "I mean Merle's a dick, but even I helped him out and he's left me behind before."

"It was an accident!" T-Dog defended. Everyone looked to him. "I tripped. Dropped the key. He was locked up for a reason, but we were gonna let him out." Daryl made a move to lunge at T-Dog. Rick got in his face to stop him and Isabell grabbed his arm knowing that he wouldn't think about fighting against her.

"I don't blame either of you for bein' angry at us." Rick started. "He's family. I get that. I went through hell to find mine." Isabell was confused by that part.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"That's not important right now. But I know exactly how you feel. He can't get far with that injury. We could help you check a few more blocks around, but only if we keep a level head."

Daryl groaned. Isabell knew that he didn't that was enough, but it was better than nothing. Isabell elbowed him. He looked to her and she nodded at him. Daryl looked back to Rick. "I could do that." Daryl finally agreed. There was a pause before T-Dog spoke.

"Only if we get those guns first. I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?" T-Dog joked. Isabell laughed.

"So where are these guns?" she asked, smirking. "I need a little adventure in my life right about now." Daryl looked to her, disapprovingly. It seemed that he didn't want her to partake in any sort of adventure. It didn't matter. Isabell would never listen to him. The five of them gathered together around the floor as Glenn started to draw a map of the surrounding area. Glenn was talking some madness about going out into the main street alone. Isabell hardly knew him and she shook her head. "There's no way that you are going out there by yourself. There are too many walkers. You'll never be able to cover yourself."

"Even I think it's a bad idea." Daryl admitted after her. "An' I don' even like you much." Glenn stared up at him in disbelief.

"It's good idea, okay?" Glenn persuaded. "Just hear me out. If we go as a group we'll be slower, tryin' to keep together. If I go alone, I'll be fast. In and out. Like always." He put a few markers on the ground, in the map. "This is the tank. It's five blocks from here. Bag of guns is just there. Here's the alley I pulled you into when I found ya." Glenn pointed to Rick. "I say Iz and me go there." Isabell nodded, agreeing.

"Nuh-uh." Daryl objected. "She ain't leavin' my sight." She smiled at Daryl's protectiveness.

"Alright…"Glenn waivered, slowly. "So you come with us. It's probably best. The crossbow's quieter than a gun, just in case we need it. While Daryl waits here, in the alley with Iz, I run up the street and grab the bag."

Isabell shook her head, arguing. "You're not going in that street alone. I'll grab a knife from the kitchen and cover your ass." She didn't asked. She invited herself along. Isabell wasn't about to let this kid go out there on his own. She avoided Daryl's gaze, knowing he'd be furious.

"Where are we?" Rick asked, referring to himself and T-Dog. Glenn pointed a little down the map from where he had put himself, Isabell and Daryl.

"You two, will be in the other alley."

"Why are we two blocks away?"

"We might not be able to get back through that alley. Walkers could block us out. We won't get through to Daryl so Iz and I will go forward, towards you. Whatever happens, we got people on both sides. After, we'll be sure to meet back here."

"Damn, kid. You gotta be some sorta Einstein in the real world." Isabell laughed.

"What'd you do before the world went to hell?" Daryl asked.

"Delivered pizzas. Why?" Glenn answered. Isabell laughed to herself.

"Well, damn." She swore, sighing. "Alright, let's go." She said. Instead of having to go back to the kitchen she found an axe in a 'break-in-case-of-emergency' box. Isabell figured it was an emergency, so she broke the glass and stole the axe. She turned, smiling at an unhappy Daryl. They stood there as Rick passed us with T-Dog to get into position. Once the hallway was clear, Daryl opened his mouth to protest Isabell's adventure. She stopped him from speaking. "I don't wanna hear it, Daryl." she pushed him away.

"You gotta hurt leg, Izzy."

"I'll be fine!" she insisted.

Daryl still wasn't sold. "I said, you ain't leavin' my sighed, Iz. I meant it." He grabbed Isabell's arm. She pulled hard against him, leaving his grasp.

"I spent weeks without you, D, on my own. I think that I can handle a few minutes. Quit ya worryin'." Daryl dropped it, knowing he wasn't going to win. The two joined Glenn and he led them to a ladder that they started to climb down: Glenn, first, Daryl, than Isabell. Going down the ladder nearly killed her leg, but she had to fight through it. She couldn't let it affect her, or Daryl would never let her go with Glenn. When they reached the bottom, Isabell readied the axe in her hand. Daryl loaded his crossbow.

"You've got some balls for a Chinaman." Daryl said to Glenn.

"I'm Korean." Glenn corrected.

"Whatever." Daryl pushed off. Daryl went over to Isabell. He put a hand on her face and stared at her for a moment.

"I'll be fine, D." he nodded and pulled her to him to kiss her forehead.

"You fight. I'm somethin' happens." She nodded. She turned to Glenn, pulling away from Daryl.

"You ready?" she asked him, retying the cloth around her leg tighter. He nodded. Daryl was right behind them, ready to close the gate when they were out. Glenn and Isabell remained light on their feet as they hurried down the street towards the bag. There were walkers all around the, but none of them seemed too interested.

"Ayúdame!" Isabell heard. She glanced up and back to the gate, noticing Daryl wasn't standing there anymore.

"Isabell!" Glenn whispered, urgently. She turned around toward him, seeing that he had grabbed the bag, but there were now walkers between them. she walked forward, swinging her axe at their heads to get to Glenn and clear a path back to the alley. When the two got back, they saw Daryl lying on the ground being hit by two of the three darker-skinned men around him. These two were bigger than the third, who stood further in the alley, looking almost afraid.

"Daryl!" she shouted and started to run for him, but one of the bigger men stopped hitting him and ran towards her, throwing her to the ground. Isabell groaned, feeling the pain of the hard ground hitting her tailbone. The other man looked up from beating Daryl and noticed the bag that Glenn was holding around his shoulder. The man grabbed at Glenn and shook him trying to get him to release his tight grasp on the bag. Isabell stayed on the ground, trying to get up, but she couldn't. Her leg hurt, not to mention how her tailbone felt. Daryl managed to grab his crossbow and shoot towards the man who had grabbed Glenn. He got shot in the ass and she laughed at it. The man who had Glenn, grabbed him too hard, out of anger, and threw him on the ground, next to Isabell. The bag flew towards Isabell's direction. The guy who had been fighting with Daryl saw that it was unmanned and looked between it and Isabell. She tried to crawl for it, but she couldn't get there in time. Turns out it didn't matter, because he was going for the blonde. The man grabbed her arms, lifting her up into the air, over his shoulder. She tried to kick him and she hit his back to get him to put her down, fighting, like Daryl had told her to. She hoped it would make it harder for him to hold her.

"Let me go, you bastard!" Isabell forced, hitting his back as hard as she could. She looked up seeing Daryl standing over the smaller boy. She heard the sound of a car start and drive up the street. Isabell panicked. "Daryl!" she shouted. "Daryl, help!" Daryl looked up from the boy. The man carried Isabell out into the street. Daryl started to chase after them, but the car had pulled up. the man pushed her into the car and quickly joined her inside it. "Daryl!" She looked at him, pleadingly, passed the man. She felt it was useless to fight anymore as the car pulled away The alley was surrounded by walkers. There was no way Daryl could keep up with the car. Isabell was taken hostage.

* * *

**For my new readers! I am currently in the process of re-typing this entire story out of McKenly's POV so the next chapter will be in her POV. I don't want to confuse you, but if I have I'm sorry for the confusion and I am trying to change this up as quickly and painlessly as possible. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Glenn's POV**

"Daryl!" I heard, coming back into consciousness, I looked up to see that the man who had been beating Daryl grab Isabell and throw her over his shoulder. He took her from the alley. I attempted to pull myself up to grab her before they could take her, but they threw her into a car before I could get to her. Looking back to Daryl, I saw he was walking angrily towards me. I prepared myself for a beating for letting Iz get taken. He stormed right by me, to close the gate to stop the walkers from getting in the alley.

"Come back here, you sumbitches!" Daryl screamed through the gate. He was furious. I felt bad. It was partially my fault that she had been taken. I should never have let her come with me into the street. She wouldn't have been that close to the guys to be taken. They would have only taken me which would have been okay. I don't have anyone anyway. No one would miss me. But now Daryl had Isabell and I took that from him after he just lost Merle.

Rick and T-Dog finally made an appearance, frantically yelling, asking what happened. Daryl noticed that it was no hope watching the car drive off. He turned back around to the smaller boy. He lunged for him. Rick jogged to grab him and stop him from hurting the boy. T-Dog held the boy back to stop him from taunting Daryl and putting himself in a worse position.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop it, Daryl!" Rick shouted, struggling against the stronger man.

"I'm gonna kick your nuts up in your throat." Daryl screamed, threatening the boy. The boy fought against the grip T-Dog had on him and I got up to help him out.

"Let me go." The boy said.

T-Dog jumped in to play peacemaker. "Chill out."

Daryl growled and shook his head. "They took her! They took Izzy! Little bastard and his little bastard homie friends took Isabell." Rick looked at the boy finally noticing there was a missing person. "I'm gonna stomp your ass!" Daryl warned, still trying to fight off Rick.

T-Dog noticed how the alley was surrounded by walkers. We had drawn too much attention to ourselves. "We're cut off." He said. Rick pointed back to T-Dog and me. He still held onto Daryl.

"Get back to the lab! Go!" Rick ordered. T-Dog and I ran for the building, hoping Daryl and Rick grabbed the bag of guns. T-Dog and I kept watch on the boy. We got to the room with the map I drew on the floor. T-Dog threw the boy to the floor. We didn't know what to do with him. We sat there for a moment, silent, waiting for Daryl and Rick. The two came in with Daryl yelling at Rick.

"We're going after her if I have to beat the shit outta the little bitch to get a location." Daryl threatened. The boy showed us a scared look, but quickly covered it up. I knew he was only trying to seem brave. Daryl glared at the boy, trying to hold back from killing him. I was scared that he actually might.

Rick went up to the boy. "What's your name?" he asked.

Daryl was furious. "We ain't got time for small talk!" Rick held up a hand, telling Daryl to keep back. Daryl scoffed at the gesture.

"Those men you were with," Rick started. "We need to know where they went."

The boy wiped the blood from his lip. "I ain't tellin' you nothin'." Rick walked away from the boy. Why was he just giving up?

"Jesus, man." T-Dog spoke up. "What the hell happened back there?" he asked, confused.

Daryl approached T-Dog. "I told you, this little turd and his douchbag friends came outta nowhere. They jumped me."

"Man, you're the one who jumped me, puto. Screaming about tryin' to find his brother like it's my damn fault." The boy accused.

"They took Isabell." Daryl told us. "Coulda taken Merle, too. Without a thought."

The boy laughed. "Merle? What kinda hick name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle." I jumped when Daryl pushed forward to beat the boy. Rick helped him back.

"Damn it, Daryl! Back off." Rick pushed him into the middle of the room, away from the kid. He glared at Rick, staring him down. His face seemed to change, like he got an idea. He walked over to my pack, digging through it. He pulled out the bandanna he put Merle's hand in and started to unwrap it.

"Wanna see what happened to the last guy that pissed me off?" Daryl asked. He threw the hand into the kid's lap. The kid back away from it, freaked out. Daryl followed the boy and wrapped his hands around his neck. "This time." Daryl said, "I'll start with the feet."

Rick came over pulling Daryl off the kid, standing between the two. "The men you were with took his friend. All we wanna do it talk to them. See if we can work something out." Rick bent down to his level. "Now, are you willin' to help with that, or am I gonna have to leave you in this room with him?" Rick said, glancing back to Daryl who had a wicked smirk on his face. The boy sighed, giving in.

**Isabell's POV**

I wasn't sure if I had passed out on my own or if they had knocked me out. I looked around to gather my surroundings. We weren't in the car anymore. Instead, it was a small dark room. I tried to pull my hands apart, but they were tied tightly behind my back. I sat on the floor in the far corner of the room. I had to get out of here. My eyes shot to my leg. It didn't hurt anymore. It had been cleaned up and bandaged. What kind of kidnappers would stitch their hostage back to health?

I pushed myself off of the floor, using the walk as support. I almost fell to the ground the second I was up. I stumbled, but used the wall again to catch myself. Walking over to the door, I hoped it was open. Of course, it wasn't. They weren't that stupid. I turned around looking for another option. There was a small window, but I'd never be able to get out without my arms. Turning again, I tried to find something I could stand up on, thinking maybe I wouldn't need my upper body strength at all. I pushed a chair over to the window with my leg and climbed onto it. I looked out the window and saw that I was three floors up. I groaned. I'd never make that fall.

My head turned at the sound of approaching footsteps and jingling keys. I jumped from the chair, kicked it away and returned to my spot on the floor. No point in getting beat for trying to escape. The keys turned in the door and three men came in, not saying a word. So I spoke first.

"You bastards here to let me go or are you gonna kill me?"

The man in front had short brown hair and a goatee. He looked at me and smiled, leaning down over me. "We're expecting some friends of yours, sweetheart. Gotta make you look nice and pretty." I quickly spit in his face. He pulled away angrily, wiping his face.

I grinned. "Sorry, sweetheart. You had a bit o' dirt on your face. Thought you'd wanna look your best when you get a bullet in your head." He turned around towards the other two speaking a few words of Spanish. "It's rude to share secrets in a different language. Why don't you share with the class?" I suggested. He turned back to glare at me before leaving the room. The other two glowered at me. "Well? Are you fuckers gonna tell me what he said or am I gonna have ta beat it outta you?" the men smiled, crudely, and I started to get a little afraid. The man pulled duct tape from his pocket, the other had a brown cloth bag. I knew what was coming next. They started to move towards me. I tried kicking them away, but tape guy gave his tape to the bag guy so that he could hold my legs. Bag guy taped my mouth shut. I tried to scream, but it was too late when that instinct kicked in. The tape pulled at my skin, making my eyes water. After the guy placed the bag over my head, the two picked me up by my arms. They carried me from the room and down a hallway. We went up just one flight of stairs and out another door. I felt wind blow on my bare legs and figured we were outside now. Probably on the roof.

"Oye!" I heard. The voice sounded like the guy I spat on. The men pushed me further. One man ripped the bag off my head. I looked down and saw that my suspicions were right, we were on the roof. I kept a brave face when I saw Daryl, Glenn, and Rick standing at the ready, guns and all. I wondered briefly where T-Dog was, but that thought left my mind when the guy pushed me just a little bit further so the toes of my shoes were hanging just over the edge. I whimpered. The only thing keeping me from falling was the guy's hold on my arm. I locked eyes with Daryl. I nodded my head, telling him I was fine. I didn't really see any of these guy as a threat. I was waiting for some kind of signal. I could take these two dumbasses out easily. "I see two options." I looked to the man who spoke. That was definitely the man I spat on. He must be the leader. "You come back with Miguel and my bag of guns, everybody walks. Or…you come back locked and loaded, we'll see which side spills more blood." The man looked up to his right. I followed his gaze to see T-Dog. He was set up as a sniper. Daryl's group thought of everything.

**Glenn's POV**

We all went back to a building that T-Dog had found. We figured we could gather there and try to come up with a plan. Daryl was not happy that we came back without Isabell. He kept pacing as Rick tried to come up with a plan. I wanted to apologize to him, but Daryl wasn't the sort of person to have those sort of moments. He would just blow me off. It wasn't worth an attempt.

"We give them half the guns and ammo." Rick planned. He got up to grab the bag and sort through them. Daryl shook his head.

"Them guns are worth more than gold." He said. "Gold won't protect our family or put food on the table. How could we give that up?" Daryl asked. Wasn't Isabell his friend?

"Are you trying to convince me to run away and leave her here?"

"No!" Daryl defended. "But who's to say they'll give her to us? We should just find her and get her out of there."

"If we knew that we would get Isabell for sure, I would agree with giving them half the loot. But you think that Vato across the way is just gonna hand her over?"

"You callin' G a liar?" Miguel spoke up from the floor.

Daryl came over and got in Miguel's face. "Are you part of this?" Daryl said, then slapped him. "You wanna hold onto your teeth?"

I looked to Rick. "Question is, do you trust that man's word?" I asked him.

"No," T-Dog interrupted. "Question is: what are you willing to bet on it? Could be more than guns. It could be your life. Isabell worth that to you?"

"'Course she is!" Daryl yelled. "Known her all my life! She's probably the only family I got left!" Daryl got in T-Dog's face this time. "We are not leavin' here until she is back here with me!" Daryl protested. I didn't even understand why T-Dog would ask something like that.

"So we're just gonna hand those guns over?" T-Dog asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I didn't say that." Rick defended. He looked to me and T-Dog. "There's nothing keeping you two here. You should get out. Head back to camp."

I shook my head. "No way. What'll we tell Lori?" Rick looked to me and nodded, accepting us staying here.

"C'mon, this is nuts." Miguel complained. "Just do what G says. No one will get hurt."

**Isabell's POV**

Then men had carried me all the way downstairs. I wondered why they wouldn't take me back to that room. Now that I knew, for sure, that Daryl was here, I knew he'd look for a way to get me out. Maybe I coulda stood by that window until he found me. He'd be able to get me down. Instead, the men led me to an auditorium-looking room. All around it lined hospital beds, old people in wheel chairs, even a few Chihuahua puppies in the corner. I furrowed my brow in confusion. The men moved me over to one of the hospital beds. One man ordered me to sit on it. I didn't argue or come back with some witty response, not that I could with my mouth taped up still. I was too confused. Why would these people kidnap me? Why would they start a war with Daryl's group if they had some sort of elderly care in the back? It didn't make any sense.

The two men who had brought me down here walked away and were replaced by another man. He didn't say anything to me. He just came over and lifted my shorts up a little took look at my cut. I couldn't stop him. My hands were bound and my mouth was still taped. He took the bandage off and pat it down with an alcohol pad, to clean it up a bit more.

"Does it hurt?" he finally asked. He looked up at me before grabbing more to cover it up with. I shook my head. He dressed the cut before looking at the tape over my mouth. "I don't think that's necessary anymore, do you?" I shook my head again. The man slowly removed the tape from my mouth. I sighed and stretched out my lips.

"You don't think you could take these off, too?" I gestured to my hands tied behind my back. The man smiled and nodded, reaching around to cut the tape. I moved my arms around to my front, stretching them out, and popping my wrists. "Thank you." the man nodded.

"Just don't go startin' any fights with the other patients. I'm pretty sure they'll kick your ass."

I laughed. "Noted." He started to walk away. "Wait." I called. He stopped and turned to me for a moment. "What is this place?" I asked. He looked around to the room to point out the people. I followed his eyes.

"I think it's pretty obvious, don't you?" he asked. I shrugged my shoulders, but he walked away. I was left to myself sitting on the hospital bed. A lady in a blue night gown and pink sweater came over to me with a tray that had a sandwich and a cup on it. She stood in front of me.

"Hola." She said. I struggled to answer here. I had to recall twenty years to high school Spanish.

"Uh, no hablo español." I said, slowly, hoping I was right. She nodded, smiling.

"Good job!" She congratulated, her Spanish accent still very thick. I smiled to her. "You hungry?" she asked. "I bring sandwich. Water." I shook my head.

"No, I couldn't." I turned it down. I couldn't steal their food. No matter how hungry I was. She still forced the tray on me.

"Please, eat. You're too small." She insisted. I smiled and took the tray from her hands. I took a bite out of the sandwich. The one bite made my stomach growl happily. I was definitely hungry. I thanked her. She nodded. "Everyone call me Abuela."

"That means grandma, right?" She nodded, excitedly. "Well, Abuela. I'm Isabell." I took another bite and a sip of water. "What is going on here? Where am I?" I asked her.

"Assisted living." She said. "That's why my grandson told me. But the doctors all left. No one says why." She shrugged. My jaw dropped. These old people had no idea about all the Dead coming back to life. They didn't know people were being eaten alive. How had they managed to keep that secret from these people? "But mijo stepped up. He cares for us now."

I smiled. "That's amazing." She nodded. Just then an old man in a wheel chair started wheezing and breathing heavily. People gathered around him. I joined the circle sticking to the outside of it. "What's happening?" I asked.

"Mr. Gilbert has the asthma. He needs his medicine. I go get Felipe." She told the others before fleeing from the room as quickly as she could. I stood back as a few people who looked like doctors as well as a few patients gathered around him. I watched the make-shift doctors push different buttons on his breathing machine. I knew it wasn't working. I hoped this Felipe guy could help him. I couldn't stand to watch this man die right in front of me.

Abuela came back with the man who just changed my bandage. I didn't realize until now, but he was also the man who Daryl shot in the ass with his crossbow. My eyes turned to the doorway hey came from. Rick, Daryl, T-Dog and Glenn soon entered, looking around, probably as confused as I was when I first saw this place. I smiled when I saw Daryl but I didn't go to him. I was focused on what Felipe was doing with Mr. Gilbert. He rushed over to me, though. Daryl checked my body for any injuries.

"Izzy, you okay? You hurt?" he asked, urgently.

I shook my head. "They didn't hurt me, Daryl. I'm fine. In fact, Felipe stitched me up." I showed him my leg. Rick soon joined the group when I turned my attention back to Mr. Gilbert. Felipe helped him take a puff from his inhaler.

"What the hell is this?" Rick asked.

"An asthma attack." I told him. "He lost his breath."

T-Dog gave me a confused look. "We thought you were bein' fed to the dogs." He said. I raised an eyebrow and looked to the bed of Chihuahuas.

"You mean those dogs?" I asked, when they followed my gaze. No one answered my question. I tried to grab Daryl's hand for a little bit of comfort, but he shook it free and kept a good distance. "Figures." I mumbled. Daryl scoffed and shook his head at me. The leader came over.

"Could we have a word with you?" Rick asked him. The leader nodded, lamely, and led him away from the group. I followed when Daryl grabbed my arm, lightly. Oh, now he wants to comfort me.

* * *

**I'd just like to take a second to apologize. I know I said I'd post this sooner since I already had it written, but time got away from me and I didn't realize how fast these couple of weeks went. But here it is. Please comment and subscribe and all that jazz.**

**I LOVE COMMENTS! And seriously you guys don't have to write a novel. Just let me know how you like it please, please, please. Maybe I'll post the next one on Tuesday :)**

**3 :)**


	3. Chapter 3

I pulled my arm out of Daryl's grasp. He shot me a surprised look, but behind it, I could see that he was angry. I couldn't figure out if he was angry at me for going into the street with Glenn or with himself for letting me get taken. I hoped it was the latter. It was my own fault that I got kidnapped, so I didn't blame him. Daryl, though, had a bad habit of thinking the worst of himself. I would know. I've known him my whole life. All thirty-five years of it.

The two of us stared at each other for a long while without saying anything. Just as Daryl was about to say something, Glenn whistled from a door off to the side.

"Iz!" he called. I turned my head, but I still felt Daryl's glare on me. Glenn waved us over. The rest of the group were being herded into a room with the leader. I jogged over to Glenn not bothering with Daryl. When I was caught up with Glenn I heard Daryl's heavy footsteps follow me. He was mumbling some sort of nonsense to himself. Daryl was angry and he wanted to talk about what happened back in the alley. I didn't. Not when I was alive, okay, and back with Daryl and his small group. This wouldn't be the place to talk anyway. We would need to be alone, away from everyone.

I joined everyone in the room and sat in a chair close to the door. Daryl came in and moved a chair to sit next to me. After I rolled my eyes, his arm went around my shoulder. What Daryl did next surprised me, but calmed me down because it was something that he always did. He hook his thumb under the neck of my shirt and rubbed it across my shoulder. It was my turn now to look surprised. He shrugged and looked to Rick and the leader. They stared to continue his conversation about this place.

Rick stood in front of the leader. "How about the rest of your crew? Who are they?" he asked. The leader shrugged.

"The Vatos come to check on their family. Then they see how great things are and most stay. It's a good thing, too. We need all the man power we can get we've encountered a lot of people who claimed to just be passing through. The worst kind, the plunderers, they would take this place by force without a second thought."

"That's not who we are." Rick stated, boldly.

"How was a to know? My people get attacked in that alley – "

"Ours did, too." Daryl argued, tightening a grip on my shoulder. I tried to shrug him off. Rick shot a look at him, signaling he needed to calm down. Daryl shrugged angrily backwards.

The leader continued. "We were attacked. You showed with Miguel hostage. Appearances." Daryl took his arm from my shoulder and stood towards the leader. I tried to grab his shirt but it slipped through my fingers.

"Well, it appeared to us you was gonna throw your hostage off a buildin'."

"We didn't." The leader argued.

I got up and pulled Daryl back by his arm. "Daryl, stop. I'm okay." Daryl's flexed arm relaxed under my palm. He came back with me to sit back down.

T-Dog rubbed his hand down his face. "Guess the world has changed." He concluded.

The leader shook his head. "No it's the same as it ever was. The weak get taken. So we do what we can to protect these people. The lowest windows are barred, all but one entrance is welded shut. The Vatos go out and scavenge what they can. The perimeter is watched twenty-four hours. Vatos work on cars to get us all out of the city, but most can't go to the bathroom by themselves." It was at this point that I began to feel my heart break for these people. Abuela was so nice to me. I couldn't even imagine my own parents or grandparents being left to rot in this. I'm glad they were all dead and gone before the world turned to shit. "Everyone here looks to me. I don't even know why. I was only a custodian." The leader added, solemnly.

"Because they can." Rick assured. "It's all they've got." Rick handed his shot gun to the leader. I stood up to argue, but Daryl's arm tightened around my shoulders. I gave him a stern look, telling him to let me go, but he didn't. I shook my head and slumped in my chair. Rick pulled the sheriff bag from around his body. The bag was holding a significantly less amount of weaponry. I scoffed. These were nice people, but we needed that ammo and guns more. The leader thanked us, and Rick nodded in response. It's safe to say that in this moment, I was not at all happy with Rick's choices for his group.

Rick handed over the guns and the leader thanked us again, leading us to the exit. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Rick had pissed me off. Giving our artillery to these people was the stupidest idea ever. Sure, they let me free and stitched me off, but I couldn't disregard their attempt to push me off a building and their assault on Daryl. Not that I had thought about how he felt after being beat to a pulp with a baseball bat. I groaned. How could I have just let that slip my mind? I squeezed my eyes and slapped my palm to my head. Thinking I should rejoin the cluster, I slowed my breath and my feet letting them catch up. I wanted to ask Daryl how he was holding up, but I couldn't get up the courage. What if he were to blow up at me? I sighed, giving up.

"Admit it." Glenn broke the silence. "You only came back to Atlanta for that hat."

"Don't tell anybody." Rick requested.

I laughed once. "What? Don't tell anyone that you handed over most of what you had in that bag? I risked my life for that stupid duffle and you're just handing shit out like candy."

"It wasn't even half."

"All for what?" Daryl chimed in. "A bunch of ol' farts who are gonna die off anyhow?"

I stood up straight, feeling confident with Daryl on my side. Sure, those people needed protection, but how long do you think they'll need to be protected?"

"How long do any of us?" Rick debated.

I scoffed. "Well, I got lots longer than them, that's for sure." The men all stopped in their tracks, staring out with shocked looks on their faces. "What?"

"Oh, my God." Glenn gasped.

"Where the hell is our van?" Daryl asked to no one in particular. I rolled my eyes.

"You guys left your transportation out in the open?" I criticized, with my hands on my hips. Daryl's eyes shot to me angrily. He opened his mouth to say something, but Glenn spoke first.

"We left it right there. Who would take it?"

"Merle." Rick answered, as if it were fact.

"He's gonna be takin' some vengeance back to camp." Daryl admitted.

I groaned. "Seriously?" Everyone's eyes shot to me. "There is so much fucking drama with you people. It was so much easier on my own." I sneered.

"Then leave." Daryl said, quietly.

I was taken aback by his comment. "Daryl…"

"No!" he shouted. The others tried to shush him, but It wouldn't be any use. Once he was started there was no stopping him. "I don't know what's going on with you, but you been a real bitch ever since we got here."

"Are you fucking kidding me, Daryl? I've been on my own for almost a month and the second I group up with you and your group, I get kidnapped. I was more afraid bein' locked up there, than I woulda been alone in the woods."

"We came back for ya, didn't we? We saved your ass."

"Just like you did when I got stuck in that herd?" I asked, furious by now.

"I told ya. Merle said you was dead."

"And Merle. You were so busy questioning your hostage, you didn't even see those bastards grab me. While during this, Merle was stealing your car and heading back to camp."

"If you hadn't gone out to the street I wouldn't have to worry about you bein' grabbed."

"It wouldn't have happened if I was alone!" I shouted. Daryl took a few steps towards me. I cringed back. I didn't know what he was gonna do next. He's never hurt me before, but with his history of being abused, I could take a guess that he could, and that scared me. I shut myself to prepare for what was coming. I jumped when I felt his touch on my arm.

"Hey." Daryl sighed. After opening one eyes, I saw he was only standing there with his hand only loosely around my wrist. I swallowed nothing and took a deep breath in. "We just need calm." I looked around to see the others against the fence, looking anywhere, but at us. "You can't go." Daryl said, bringing my attention back to him.

"You just said – "

"I was angry. You can't go. I just got you back."

I pulled myself from his grasp. "You didn't get me back, Daryl." I told him harshly. "You may have found me, and I know that we kissed, or whatever, but I don't want any sort of…thing." He shrugged his hands into his pockets. "And I don't trust Rick. Not when he made that decision about the guns. I can't do this group thing."

Daryl sighed. "So we go back to camp. Stay a night, for rest, and get Merle. If you still wanna go in the mornin', we'll go."

"I'll want to go."

"Just think about it." He asked, softly. I groaned. I really didn't want to be part of a group. There were so many things to worry about and more mouths to feed. I didn't need all of that. Not after being on my own for so long. However, I reluctantly nodded, agreeing with his proposition. Daryl and I joined the others ready to go. Rick asked us what our plan was. He liked us going back with them. He seemed to think staying with a group was best. If he was so concerned with our well-being, why would he give away our defenses? It still drove me crazy, even though I had promised Daryl I would just let it go. We started walking back to their camp. Daryl and I held ourselves a little farther behind. He didn't talk and I didn't talk. With our outbursts towards each other earlier, I wouldn't know what to say.

After about an hour, I ventured to the edge of the road in search of small branches and sticks that I could make a bow and some arrows of. I needed to keep myself busy somehow. I could feel Daryl's eyes on me telling me he had my back if any walkers came around. I broke off a branch that I deemed would work for my bow. With the string in my pocket from my last bow that broke, I made a new one. I slung it over my shoulder and used my back pocket as a makeshift quiver while I carved arrows as we walked.

"'Member how to do that, I see." Daryl pointed out, as I joined the group again.

"Are you kiddin'? I r'member everythin' you taught me." I said proudly. "It's how I made it on my own." I shrugged. Daryl nodded. Not being around him for so long made me realize how much Daryl and I used to talk. Though, now that I've got him back, it seems as if he doesn't talk at all.

"How's yer leg doin'?" Daryl asked. Being shocked by his caring question, it took me a moment to respond.

"It's fine. Don't hurt now that it's stitched." I looked over at him, but he quickly looked away. He blamed himself for me getting 'napped. I sighed. "Since I know yer beatin' yerself up over it – "

"I ain't beatin' myself up over nothin'." He said, defensively.

"Well, either way, it's not your fault that I got taken. I let my own guard down at a really stupid time."

"You shouldn't've gone out in the street in the first place."

"I don't really want to argue with you about this. I guess, what's done is done." I returned my attention to the arrow I was carving.

"Fine." Daryl said, angrily and caught up to the group. I decided to stay behind them. I didn't really know them and I wasn't sure that I wanted to. If I was gonna be taking off in the morning, there was no reason to get attached to these people.

It got dark very quickly. Rick decided we should each have a gun of some kind. Much to my disdain, I took one from him. I didn't like using guns anymore. They were too loud, too attention grabbing. The group also ended up jogging. This world was always more dangerous at night. Daryl discreetly slowed down so I was in front of him. I sometimes hated when he played alpha male and always thought had to be protected. Trying to avoid a fight, I ignored it and put his mind at ease. Now that we were jogging, though, my leg was killing me. I could feel myself slow down, but with Daryl behind me, I couldn't. he'd worry too much. So I pushed through the pain, ignoring it.

Out of nowhere, we heard gunshots.

"What the hell was that?" I asked doubling over, hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. I looked at my pant leg. Fresh blood caked around my cut. I probably tore the stitches. "Great."

Rick listened for another shot. Screams were heard shortly after. "Oh, my God." Rick gasped.

Daryl grabbed my arm and pulled me up. "C'mon, Izzy." He said. Glenn started urging us to go forward. We ran through the trees now, Rick in the lead. Daryl and I were closely behind. He still had his hand around my upper arm, pulling me along. I guess he noticed my pain. He let go of my arm and started to take aim with his gun. I figured we were at the camp now, so I readied mine as well. "Stay close." He grumbled loud enough for me to hear over the shots. We emerged into a clearing of trees. How big was this group? There were tens, campsites, and car scattered about the site. Even someone with an RV. Daryl and I hurriedly crept forward, taking shots on the herd of walkers that had stumbled through their camp. I stayed glued to his right side, shooting walkers who were far away and hitting them over their heads with the butt of my gun when they weren't. Everyone around me may have been using up ammo and making noise, but another herd rolling through wouldn't be on my hands.

I turned towards Daryl, taking shots at walkers on his side. I went to move closer to his side, but I tripped. A walker that hadn't been killed the right way had grabbed onto my ankle. I landed on the ground with a thud that grabbed Daryl's attention. I was about to kick the monster when Daryl came over and hit him in the head repeatedly with the butt of his gun. He grumbled and grabbed my arm, pulling me hard to my feet. We looked around to take another shot but there was only one more that Daryl hit over the head. I looked to Rick he had fallen to his knees to embrace a little boy and pick him up. A brunette woman came over and hugged both of them. This must have been the family he went through hell to find. Glenn walked in circles, freaking out, making sure we got them all. T-Dog and Daryl kept their weapons in their hands. There were other families with children that nearly made my heart break. A blonde woman bent over another blonde who had been bit. She needed to be taken care of. A woman with short hair was close to them, coddling a little girl. All of this drove me crazy.

The blonde girl who lay on the ground, must have let go. The blonde over her started to wail, screaming the name 'Amy.' My eyes started to water seeing everyone hug their loved ones who had made. Daryl stood back a ways behind me. He wouldn't comfort me. Not in front of all these people. Daryl hated PDA more than anyone else I knew. Sometimes, I even appreciated it. At this moment, though, I wanted nothing more than to turn around and wrap my arms around him. Daryl wouldn't like it. He'd get mad and push me away.

A tall scruffy man turns towards the blondes. "I remember my dream now; why I dug the holes." Holes? What holes? Everyone started to gather in the center of the camp. Daryl came from behind me and took my arm in his hand, pulling me with him to the outer ring of the group. Rick and another man with longer hair stepped into the center.

Rick cleared his throat before speaking. "I know tonight's been hard. But we all need some rest. Shane and I are going to go around, make sure all the walkers are gone. Everyone else get to your tents and get some sleep. Someone will keep watch overnight. We'll clear out the bodies in the morning." Everyone retreated to their tents, except for Daryl.

"I'ma help." Daryl told Rick. Rick nodded.

"Me, too." I said, joining in. Rick looked to Daryl like he was asking if that was okay.

Daryl shook his head. "You gotta get some rest. C'mon." he said, pulling me away from the other two men.

"Daryl, I'm not a child. It'll take five minutes." I argued. We came to a tent that I recognized. It was away from the rest of the group, which didn't surprise me. The Dixon brothers loved their privacy.

"Iz, just stay here. Close the tent, so I know yer safe." As much as this side of Daryl annoyed me, I just couldn't say no to it. I nodded my head and stepped in the tent. "Take my place. Merle don't know how to keep clean. I'll be back."

With that, he left me to close the tent. I laid down on his sleeping bag. Everything smelled just like him. I wrapped the blanket around me, even though I wasn't cold. I just wanted his comfort, even if it was just an object that smelled like him. I thought back to all the people who were lost in this group. The number dwindled in just a matter of minutes. I thought of those who were left behind. The ones who had lost people. The children. That little girl, crying over the loss of her father.

I didn't notice I had started to cry. I was shaking. I didn't even know these people, but I felt their pain. I couldn't remember the last time I cried. Actually, I could, but I didn't want to think about it.

Seconds later, the tent opened up. I wiped my tears away quickly and turned over to see Daryl enter the tent. He didn't look at me, so I rolled back away from him and sobbed quietly.

Daryl surprised me by laying down beside me and putting an arm over my waist. Without a second thought, I pulled the blanket over him, too. I curled myself against his own body for the comfort.

"You could have told me what was here." I said, referring to one thing in particular. Daryl would know what I was talking about.

"'M Sorry." He whispered against my ear. He held me tight and let me cry until I drifted to sleep.

* * *

**So sorry that it wasn't Tuesday like I had said, but Thursday is close enough. Don't take my word for it but I am going to try try try to get another chapter written by next Monday. I'm all caught up in my writing now, and school is OVERR! So, I think I can do Monday. As long as I can step away from playing the Sims 3 long enough to do so.**


	4. Chapter 4

Today was it. Daryl and I would take off and leave this group and be on our own again. He'll probably want to go find Merle. I guess I would be okay with that. Merle is family. You don't leave family behind. Even if they leave you behind. Twice. Daryl would make me move passed it. He hates conflict. Most of the time, though, he's the reason behind the fights between Merle and me. Merle always believed I was "turning his little brother into a pussy" as he said it. That wasn't me, though. His soft side was hardly ever out around me. the little gestures like kissing my forehead and rubbing his thumb along my shoulder were just about the only thing that he would to do show affection when people were around. I didn't like PDA as much either, but part of me always wanted that feeling you get when someone kisses you in the middle of a crowd.

I turned over in Daryl's cot, uncovering my arm from over my eyes. The tent was empty, for Daryl was missing. The tent opening was zipped up. This, no doubt, was a flimsy form of protection from The Dead. Daryl was probably checking out my sleep station every now and then to be sure that I wasn't attacked. My bow leaned against the other side of my tent. I went to get up and grab it to put it around my body but seeing the state my shirt was in, I almost lost what little food I had in my stomach. It was caked in blood and dirt. Daryl's backpack was in the corner of the tent. After grabbing it, I dug threw it looking for a shirt. Thankfully, he had one of my old flannels that I traded out for the one I was wearing, leaving my undershirt that was still ripped from when Daryl found me yesterday.

It's hard to believe that really was only yesterday. It was such a long day between finding Merle, almost dying, and being kidnapped. Yesterday was too taxing on everyone. Being in the group made it hard on me because all of their emotions and sadness were rubbing off on me. I didn't even know these people, not even their names, and I cried myself to sleep over them. I think it was the kids. Children shouldn't be in this kind of world. In the end, they probably won't make it.

After wrapping my bow around my body, I left the tent, still standing by it with a good view of Daryl dragging a body with the help of a Hispanic man. Glenn walked over to the two.

"What are you guys doing? This pile is for geeks. Our people go over there." Glenn said, pointing to another pile.

Daryl shrugged as best he could while dragging the body. "What's the difference? They're all infected.

Glenn was at his breaking point since last night. Daryl's arguing just made it worse. This was his family now. I read him well enough to realize that his real family was gone, or at least not in this group. "Our people go in that row over there." Glenn stressed, his voice cracking near the end. "We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand?"

Daryl looked passed Glenn and his eyes found mine. I nodded, telling him he should comply with Glenn's request. Daryl groaned and rolled his eyes but moved in the opposite direction, towards the dug up holes. Daryl removed his hands from the decomposing body and walked away. I knew by the look on his face he was going to have an outburst. "You reap what you sow."

The man who was helping him stood up straight. "You know what? Shut up, man."

"Y'all left my brother for dead! You had this coming!" Daryl came over to me. I shook my head at him. He glared at me. "What?"

I shrugged. "Your outbursts aren't needed. These people are goin' through enough without you screamin' at them."

He scoffed at me. "Iz, don't talk to me like I'm a child."

"I wouldn't have to if you would stop acting like one. Everyone knows you're upset about Merle. They are upset about losing most of their camp."

"I thought you hated groups."

"That doesn't mean that I don't know exactly what they're going through. I've lost loved ones, too, and you told me to fight. You've already moved on. Look how easily it was for you to leave the city and come here."

"I thought Merle was here!" he said, angrily, stepping close to me to get in my face.

"But he's not!" I said, just as harshly, standing my ground. "And I'm sorry 'bout that. but if I know that stupid son of a bitch, he's still alive out there."

Daryl let out a long, frustrated breath to calm himself and smirked. "Y'know it's kinda sexy when you stand up to me."

I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. "I'm not doin' this, Daryl." I said, as I walked back towards the main camp.

"A walker got him." I looked towards the Black woman who was stepping away from the man who talked about the holes last night. "A walker bit Jim." Everyone gathered around him, Daryl stepping in front of my carrying a pickaxe. 'Jim' became very panicked saying over and over that he was fine.

"Show it to us." Daryl demanded. Jim started to run away, scared. When Jim didn't submit, Daryl repeated himself. Jim picked up a shovel, probably panning to use it as his defense weapon. Shane noticed and attempted to calm him.

"Easy, Jim." Shane cooed. Daryl wasn't having any of that 'go easy on him' crap.

"Grab him." Daryl ordered.

"Jim, put the shovel down." Shane told Jim, gently. "Put it down." T-Dog went from behind Jim and grabbed both of his arms, making him drop the shovel.

"I'm okay." Jim insisted, repeating himself, trying to convince us. Sure, he was okay now, but give him a few hours. He'd be trying to chomp down on one of us. Daryl moved towards Jim to lift up his shirt. Jim had a giant bite mark close to his side though he was still convinced that he was fine. Daryl and T-Dog backed away from Jim, joining the group. Daryl moved to my side, pulling me away from the dying man. Jim stayed sat by the RV while everyone gathered in a circle a little ways away.

What are we gonna do about him?" I asked, aloud.

"I say," Daryl started, "we put a pickaxe in his head. And the dead girl's. Just be done with it."

Shane looked up from under the visor of his Sheriff's cap. "Is that what you'd want if it were you?"

Daryl nodded. "Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it." I gave him a look, even though I remembered the deal that Dixons and I made when all this shit happened.

"I hate to say it." An older man spoke up. "I never thought I would. But maybe Daryl is right." I now he spoke with reluctance. Did Daryl's group really look down on him that much?

"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog." Rick said, irately.

"I wasn't suggesting – "

"He's sick." Rick insisted. "A sick man. We start down that road, where do we draw the line?" Rick's wife tried to shush him.

"The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be."

"Daryl's right. If he and I are gonna stick around, I've got to be sure String Bean, o'er there, isn't gonna attack us, durin' the night." Daryl looked at me, no doubt, shocked at my outburst about the two of us staying with the group.

"Who the hell are you anyway?" Shane asked me.

"I'm part of the reason you have those guns from last night." I pointed out, glaring at the deputy.

"Shane this is Isabell. She's with Daryl." Rick explained. "What if we can get him help? I heard the CDC was working on a cure."

"I heard that, too." Shane said doubtfully. "Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell."

"What if the CDC is still up and running?"

"What if it's not?" I challenged.

"Man, that is a stretch right there." Shane shook his head.

"Why?" Rick asked. "If there is any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs, wouldn't they? I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection." I looked over to Daryl. He was biting his lip, looking a little antsy. I put a hand on his arm but he didn't calm down. I let out a long sigh. I knew where his brain was and there was no way that I could stop him now.

"Okay, Rick, you want all those things, alright?" Shane said. "I do, too, okay? Now if they do exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning."

"That is a hundred miles in the opposite direction." Rick's wife pointed out.

"That is right." Shane agreed. "But it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me. if that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there."

"The military were on the front lines of this thing. They were the first to be overrun. We've all seen that. The CDC is out best choice and Jim's only chance." Daryl looked at me for a moment, probably weighing his options. He looked back at Jim with a devious look on his eyes. He turned to me and I shook my head at him.

"Daryl. Don't."

He shook his head. "You go looking for aspirin. Do what you _need_ to do. I gotta take care o' my own." He turned to Jim with his pickaxe in his hands. "Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!" He readied to take a swing at Jim's head.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Rick shouted to Daryl to stop him and coking his gun pointing it at his head. Shane moved between Daryl and Jim to protect Jim.

"Whoa! Rick!" I ran over trying to push Rick away from Daryl. "Rick, come on! He's just trying to protect me!" I argued. "And the group. Your family, Rick!" I was shaking. Daryl hadn't lowered the axe and Rick hadn't lowered his weapon either. Then suddenly my own words gave me an idea. "Your family. Do you remember how devastated you were when you found them gone?" His eyes darted to me but his gun stayed in its position. "Daryl is my family. My _only_ family." My eyes began to water. "Please, Rick. Don't take him away from me." I begged. Rick looked to me then back at Daryl who had turned around and lowered his axe.

"We don't kill the living." Rick stressed.

"That's funny. Coming from a man who just put a gun to my head."

"Y'know, Rick and I we may disagree on some things." Shane admitted. "But not this. You put it down. Go on." Daryl groaned and slammed the axe into the ground before walking away. I put a hand on Rick's lower arm after he lowered his gun.

"Thank you. I'm so sorry." Rick nodded at my apology and I went to follow Daryl. "Daryl!" I called but he didn't stop. "Daryl, c'mon. I gotta talk to you!" I jogged to catch up and caught his arm with my hand. He pulled angrily out of my grasp, stopping at his tent. "Daryl what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Stupid ass is gonna get us all killed." He grumbled.

"I've been trying to tell you that, but you can't just kill a man. Jim is still human, Daryl."

"He won't be for long. And like you said, Jimbo could turn at any second and when he bites you…" He trailed off. He had a pained look on his face and I knew that Daryl couldn't finish the sentence he started.

"I'm not gonna get bit. The people here will keep a close eye on him. We'll get him when he turns."

"I thought you didn't wanna stay. What was that back there? We gonna stay now?"

I shrugged. I had my reasons. I wanted to protect these kids. I know that their parents were here. But Rick's wife and the woman with short hair didn't look capable of defending themselves, let alone their kids. "The group's not as big anymore. It's weaker. They're gonna need all the help they can get." Daryl just stood there biting his lip. "So we're stayin'. And I know you're angry about Merle, but don't take it out on them. Yell at me if you need to. I'm the one who let him walk out of the room." For a second, Daryl broke his barrier down and grabbed my hand. I was confused, so I tried to pull away, but he held on tighter and pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around my neck in a hug.

"We'll find Merle. If you can make it, he can." He said, hoarsely, in my ear. "I'm just glad that I've got you back." Granted I couldn't completely agree with him, because we aren't together or whatever we were before the apocalypse hit. I squeezed him back. Yeah, I was glad he was alive and I was with him. I missed him. Know that I could have died all alone in that stupid closet put a lot into perspective for Daryl and me. In a minute, his body went rigid and I knew to pull away. While I wasn't happy about it, I conformed. He cleared his throat. "Got some work to do." I nodded, as he walked off. I sighed. I wish he wouldn't close me off so quickly. Even though I didn't want anything to happen between us, I still wanted his comfort. Getting away from my thoughts I decided to follow him. I needed to help out around here if we were going to stay. We went over to the area where they piled up their people. We needed to crush their heads to be sure they wouldn't come back. Daryl had grabbed his axe from earlier and I started lining up bodies. He brought the axe down on a few heads before the women with short hair came over to watch. She stared at one body in particular, I noticed.

"He yours?" I asked.

She nodded. "My husband, Ed."

I rocked back and forth on my feet. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head and shrugged. It's funny. I'm not." I looked at her confused. I didn't want to push her on it though. I didn't know either of them. Judging wouldn't do much.

"I'm Isabell."

She nodded. "Carol." My eyes wandered to the children who sat t a table working in workbooks. I watched the girl with shoulder-length hair that she was hugging last night. She followed my sight. "My daughter, Sophia. She's twelve." I was scared for that little girl, growing up in this world.

"She's beautiful." I said, with a smile. Carol turned back to me very surprised at my words.

"Thank you." She said, meaningfully. I nodded.

"Izzy." Daryl called. I looked to him questioningly. "Got one more." He said, gesturing to Ed's body at our feet. I looked to Carol. She stared long and hard at her husband's body, debating in her head.

"I'll do it." She said, reaching for Daryl's axe. "He's my husband. I should do it." Daryl nodded and handed her the axe. She was getting emotional. She put the axe over her shoulder, struggling slightly. I couldn't help but watch her. The pain was written on her face. Or was it relief? She was crying, though, so she was sad about it. Carol took a deep breath and threw the axe down onto her husband's head. Figuring she was done, I went to help her dig it out of his head, but she picked the axe right back up and threw it back down. She just kept slamming it down of him. The only way to explain this behavior was that they weren't exactly the happiest of married couples. I looked to Daryl. He was watching her with a knowing look. He knew what she was feeling. Carol was abused by her husband. She started to slow down and also began crying. I went over and put an arm around her shoulders, taking the axe and handing it back to Daryl.

"Carol, why don't you go take the kids down by the water. Daryl and I will handle this from here." I said, comfortingly. She nodded her head. She needed to get herself away from this situation.

"Thank you." I nodded, as she left to join her daughter.

I turned back to Daryl. "I don't know whether to feel relieved or sorry for her." Daryl nodded.

"I'm gettin' the truck. We gotta load 'em up." He went in the direction of his own truck and a minute later backed it up. We quickly loaded it with the bodies. I stood in the bed, grabbing what was handed to me and sliding them all the way in. Daryl helped me to jump out of the side of the truck. "How's your leg?"

I shrugged. "Stitches popped last night while we were jogging, but it can hold off. I'm fine." I waved him off.

"No, ya ain't, Iz. You gotta stitch it up again."

"And I will. When we're done here. No sense in stichin' it again if they'll only pop out." Daryl thought for a moment.

"Alright." He said, climbing into his truck. We drove silently to an area where Rick and Shane were digging holes. Or arguing. I couldn't really tell, but there seemed to be quite a lot of tension between them.

Daryl and I hopped out of the truck. "I still think it's a mistake. Not burning these bodies. It's what we said we'd do, right? Burn 'em all, wasn't that the idea?"

"At first." Shane agreed.

"So Chinaman gets all emotional, says it's not the thing to do and we just follow him along?" Daryl questioned angrily. I quietly told him to calm down.

"Rick, these people need to know who's in charge. They need to know the rules."

"There are no rules." Rick responded.

"Well, that a problem." Rick's wife said, taking my side. "We haven't had one minute to hold onto anything of our old selves. We need time to mourn and we need to bury our dead. It's what people do."

* * *

**Okay, so it's not Monday. In fact, it's far from it. But I have been super terrible at straying myself away from The Sims. And it's the last week of classes so... actually I won't lie and say that I've been studying, because, truth is, I haven't. I should. Especially for my Sociology class, but I probably won't.**

**Anyway please, please, please enjoy. And I love comments. And subscriptions. And recommendations. If you guys could just leave like a small little sentence, that's all that I need really. Maybe I'll try harder to get a chapter out quicker.**

**3:)**


	5. Chapter 5

I didn't want to attend the make-shift funeral service. These people and I weren't exactly close. In a way, I bonded with Carol. Or at least I sympathized with her. After all we've been through with Daryl's family, I knew what she had been through. The second I saw her beat the crap out of her husband's dead body, I knew. It was hard to miss. Daryl told me that earlier in the day that while we were gone, Ed was actually getting rough with Carol and Shane beat his face in. That would mean that most of the ugliness wasn't from him being turned and that was disturbing. I don't ever remember it being that bad with Daryl. Then again, he probably hid it from me so that I wouldn't freak out.

We all stood in a half circle around the graveyard. Daryl and I were on the end of the line. Andrea, the blonde who lost her sister, was trying to lower her sister into a grave. She didn't want any help, even though many people, including myself, opted to help her out. She didn't look at me, let alone acknowledge me. Dale managed to be successful after many failed attempts at trying. No one said anything during our make-shift funeral. We just stood around staring at the graves that were dug. I looked to Daryl, since I was standing uncomfortably. These weren't my people. Daryl was looking around. He was probably still bitter over his brother being gone. I sighed. Just as I had, everyone dispersed and began walking back to camp. Daryl and I hung back since we drove the truck up here. I heard Rick start to whisper to his wife, Lori, but I didn't bother trying to strain to listen. What really killed me is when Carl, his son, spoke up.

"Are we safe now, Dad? Now that we're together?" he asked. I stopped dead in my tracks and felt tears start to sting my eyes. I felt an elbow poke my back. I turned around seeing Daryl behind me. He flicked his head behind him to tell me to come with him. He brought me to the bed of his truck and sat me down. He turned to his truck to get his own version of a first aid kit. When he came back he pulled my shorts up and got to work stitching me up. I still couldn't let Carl's question out of my mind.

"How are we supposed to let them sit by and let that child live in fear?" I asked out loud. Daryl looked at me for a second and scoffed away. "I'm serious, Daryl. Both Sophia and Carl, the Mexicans. They're scared outta their pants. How'm I supposed to just let that go?"

"Not much we can do, Iz. Those aren't our kids." He said, harshly. I looked at him for a minute, becoming frustrated. Did he feel nothing?

"No, they aren't." I said, "but now that I'm here, and we're staying, I gotta do something." Daryl shook his head. He didn't know what to say. "We can't stay here. It's not safe. Cowboy Rick can tie up as many tin cans around the perimeter as he wants but it'll never be safe enough for me to sleep soundly." Daryl continued to work on my leg without looking up or making a comment. I shook my head. "Daryl?" he finally looked up. "What are we gonna do?"

He scoffed. "I ain't gon' do nothin'. All I gotta do, is take care of my family. That's only you."

"Yeah, before shit turned to hell and you stopped fighting." The second I said that, I regretted it. The look on his face was almost as if he had been stabbed. I shook my head and dropped it to my hands. "Damn it." I said, mainly to myself.

"It's fine." Daryl said softly, finishing off the last stitch. I looked up at him.

"It's not." I told him.

"It's true."

"No, it's not, Daryl. We tried, okay? We just didn't get there in time." I said, not even fighting the tears that were rolling down my face. "We were too late. We both fought to get there, but it just wasn't enough. I never seem to make it on time." I admitted, even though I told myself I never would. Daryl sat down in the bed next to me and we both avoided the other's gaze.

"What do you think? Fort Benning or CDC?" he asked me. I looked up at him shocked that he would ask me. he's never really been worried about my opinion on where we're going before. It was always, what he says goes.

"CDC. No doubt Benning has been overrun. A place like that, secure and heavily armed, people would think to go there first. Most of the world doesn't even know what the CDC is. And in thinking of all of the weaponizable diseases they got there, it's probably even more guarded than the base." Daryl nodded, hopefully agreeing with me, but he never said where he thought we should go. He pushed himself out of the truck and stood in front of me. Daryl reached out a hand and pulled me out.

"Let's get back to camp." I stared at him face still for a moment. I could see so much even though he gave me so little. I hated to admit it, but without the man in front of me, I would have absolutely no idea where I would be.

~~

_"Daryl!" The girl shouted. She couldn't have been more than fourteen. She was running through the woods that separated her house and his. She looked back and forth in hopes of finding her only friend. They had said earlier at school that they were going to meet there. With her mom dad gone now, and her mom, drinking herself away, she made use of her own time the way that she wanted. Forging all her report cards and permission slips. She did really well in school for not really caring about it. It came natural to her. She had to help her friend, Daryl, do well, forcing him to study with her before they were allowed to go hunting and camping on the weekends._

When she got to the place she knew was the exact median between the houses, she stopped. Where was he? This is where he normally would be. He always got back before she did. She took a quick trip to the library before walking home. She decided to go to his house. Maybe he had forgotten that they were meeting. She ran towards the house on the other side of the forest. It was as equally run down and beaten up as her own house was.

"Daryl!" she shouted again, hoping he would come out of the house. She was never allowed in. Daryl wouldn't let her. She didn't want to knock in case she'd make Daryl mad. She went against everything her gut was telling her anyway, and went up to the screen that separated her from entering the house. The girl peeked in to see Daryl on the ground, seething in pain. Her eyes widened as she burst through the door. "Daryl!" she whispered, running to her friend's side. "Jesus. Are you okay?"

"Izzy?" he said, strain in his voice. "What the hell are you doin' in here?"

"I came because you never showed up. We were supposed to study, remember?"

"Get outta here!" he said, pushing the girl away from him. "You shouldn't be here! I told you never to come in this house." he recalled.

"Daryl!" An angry man's voice boomed through the house. The back screen door squeaked open and closed quickly, slamming into the frame. "Who's there?!" he shouted. Isabell looked to her friend. She had no idea what was to come. Iz didn't know that the origin of that voice was the reason her best friend was laying on the ground in pain. Daryl's eyes widened as he looked back at Isabell.

"Iz, you gotta get out of here." Daryl ordered.

Isabell shook her head. "Not without you."

Daryl groaned. "Alright. Help me up." Isabell nodded, helping him get an arm over her shoulders.

"Daryl!" the man shouted again. Daryl tried to rush the girl along. He knows exactly what was coming. He didn't want it to happen to Isabell, not his best friend. It was bad enough it happened to him. The two tiptoed through the house, hiding around the corners, checking to see if he was coming that way.

"Don't look back." Daryl pushed. Isabell nodded. When the coast was clear, they burst through the front door and took off towards the woods. Daryl's arm was still around the girl, so it was difficult for the two to run with such speed. They heard the man shout after them, but didn't look back. When they got closer to Isabell's house, they slowed. The two sat on a large boulder. Daryl kept his arm around the girl, if anything just to hold her together. Subconsciously, his thumb moved back and forth on her shoulder. She couldn't think of anything to say. She would open her mouth to try and speak, but nothing ever came out. After a while, she just sighed, and put her head in her hands. Daryl bit his lip. He had been hoping that she would never find out, but it was bound to come out. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"Why didn't you?"

"It only just started."

"It's cause Merle left, isn't it?"

Daryl nodded. "It used to be him. He would hold off the ol' man from gettin' me." Daryl shrugged. "Now that he's gone…" Daryl paused. "I can take it. It's fine."

"Come to mine, okay? You only have to stay tonight, but you can't go back without healing up a little." Daryl nodded. "I won't go to the library anymore. I don't care what you say about it. If I hadn't gone, you wouldn't have been there and you wouldn't have gotten hurt." The girl sighed, and laid a head on Daryl's shoulder. "I wasn't there in time. I should have been there."

~~

Everyone had been packed up and ready to go. The verdict was the CDC. I was glad. I never would have chosen Fort Benning, even if I had known that it was safe. I don't do well when it comes to authority. Especially when I would be trapped in a cage with all of that authority waving guns in my face, trying to decipher what the scars on my arms were from. The group had been gathered around the cars with Rick and Shane standing in front of us.

"Everybody listen up." Shane shouted. "Those of you with CBs, we're gonna be on channel forty. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? now you gotta problem, don't have a CB, can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

I watched as the Mexican man, Morales, stood forward. "We're uh…" he stumbled. "We're not going." He said, boldly. I shook my head. With just the four of them, two of them kids, there is no way that they'll make it.

"We have family in Birmingham." His wife said. "We want to be with our people." Assuming they're there. I thought.

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane warned.

Morales nodded. "We'll take the chance. I got to do what's best for my family."

"You sure?" Rick questioned.

"We talked about it." Morales said, putting an arm around his wife's shoulders. "We're sure."

"Alright." Rick looked over to Shane and called out his name. Shane digs into our bag of weaponry. I sighed. Daryl was just as upset as I was, but I understood that they needed it. They handed Morales a gun and a box of ammo.

"The box is half full." Shane says.

Morales' wife nodded. "Thank you all… For everything." Everybody then proceeded to say their goodbyes and hopes of good luck. Daryl and I stood outside the group. I put a hand on his arm to calm him from his anger high. He just looked to me and nodded telling me he was okay, so I took my hand away. I heard Shane whisper something to Rick about our odds and I rolled my eyes.

"Come on." Shane told everybody. "Let's move out." I moved towards the truck with Daryl. His brother's motorcycle was in the back. I had hoped that if I asked Daryl to ride the bike he would say yeah, go ahead, but I knew the answer would be no. He'd use my stitches as an excuse since he didn't like me riding the bike on my own. He must have thought I was incompetent or something. Little did he know, I had found an old bike while I was on my own and was using that for transport. Much to my dismay, I climbed into the cab. I wanted to ride in the wind and completely have time to myself. Instead, I had to sit in the awkward silence that was Daryl Dixon. He was always comfortable just sitting, being. I wanted to do something, to talk about something. I had a problem just sitting around.

The caravan had taken off. It had been about a couple hours now, and I was starting to get antsy. I looked to Daryl, seeing him concentrating on nothing in front of him, with his elbow on the window as a prop for his head. I bit my lip and turned back to the front.

"Daryl?" I asked. He hmphed in response. I rolled my eyes, but continued to ask my question anyway. "Do you ever think that we'll find a place to stay? Like a place to settle down. Somewhere well-guarded and stocked."

"What? You want that apple pie, picket fence crap?"

I shook my head. "Do I look like the type of girl who wants that?" I asked him, sending a sarcastic glare his way. "I'm just saying someplace where we don't have to keep running. Where we can start some sort of society." I could tell he took a moment to think about my question after I had clarified it to him. I'm glad that Daryl was thinking about it. Maybe I didn't want the apple pie and the picket fence, but I would like to have some of my old life back, even if it wasn't all of it.

He didn't get a chance to answer though, since the caravan had to make a stop. The RV broke down, not that it was a surprise. I had watched the old man try and fix that thing up. He seemed to be using more duct tape than actual car part. I figured it wouldn't hold. I made my way back to the truck and leaned on the passenger side door. I saw my bow in the bed and debated on going hunting or not. My answer was decided when Daryl came over to me and told me what was going on.

"They're leaving Jim."

"Good." I admitted. "Is that what he wants, though? To be left here?" I asked Daryl. He nodded. I did the same and went with him to have some sort of goodbye with Jim, not that I knew him much.

After that we carried on. Daryl and I were back in the truck, neither of us saying a thing. He still had yet to answer my question. I hoped that he thought we'd find that eventually. I wanted to believe that we still had a chance at somewhat of a normal life. My eyes grew tired. I tried to stay awake, figuring it was just the weakness from the lack of food, but I couldn't fight it. I moved to lay my head down on the middle seat, but Daryl stopped me and pulled me to use his leg as a pillow. I smiled at him. His face remained as poker-like as ever. I sighed. He put his right hand on my shoulder and drove with his left.

"We'll find somethin'." He said. I didn't move to look at him, but I know he knew I heard him. Nothing else could have been said. I closed my eyes and drifted into a sleep.

~~

Not knowing how long I had slept for, I was awoken by Daryl shaking my shoulder. I lifted my head to see that it was almost dark. I looked in front of us, seeing the rounded building I recognized as the CDC. I sighed in relief. That is, until I noticed the lack of living bodies in the area.

"Shit." I whispered, seeing the destruction. Everyone gathered outside of the vehicles, weapons in hand. I grabbed my bow and readied it, without drawing an arrow back.

Shane played leader. "Alright, everybody. Just keep moving, and stay quiet. Stay at the ready and together."

Daryl had out his crossbow. I looked to him and he flicked his head telling me to come closer. "You stick to me, ya hear?" I nodded. As we moved towards the building, we had to maneuver around the bodies. My head remained clear as I stepped around and over them, trying to be the least bit respectful. The woman in the group were less than brave. Carol, pushing little Sophia along, almost started to cry, seeing the area the way it was. Once we reached the building, Daryl stayed behind the group to catch any stragglers as a precaution. I moved up to the front with Rick and Shane. Shane pounded on the door.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog pointed out.

"These barriers wouldn't be down if there weren't people inside." I pointed out.

"Walkers!" I heard Daryl's voice shout. Carol and Lori pushed their children towards us and away from the oncoming walkers. Daryl shot a couple walkers down before passing blame towards Rick. "You led us into a graveyard!"

Shane shook his head, "He made a call." He said angrily, defending his friend. I was confused why because he didn't want to come here in the first place.

"It was the wrong damn call!"

"Shut up!" Shane ordered Daryl. "Do you hear me? Shut up!" Shane turned to his best friend. "Rick, this is a dead end." I turned to look at the building, wrapping my bow around my body, trying to see if I could noticed anything suspicious, or anything that would give me a hint that there was something in there. "Do you hear me, Rick? There is no blame. Fort Benning is still an option."

"On what?" Andrea questioned. "We have no food, hardly any fuel left. Fort Benning is a hundred miles away."

"A hundred twenty five." Glenn corrected. "I checked the map."

"Forget Fort Benning." Lori suggested. "We need answers now."

"We'll think of something!" Rick insisted.

"C'mon, let's go. Let's get out of here." Shane begged, before turning back to the others and fending off walkers. I looked up and just as I had, I noticed a camera move. I pointed it out to Rick.

"There! Did you see that?" I asked him.

Rick nodded. "The camera! It moved!"

"You imagined it." Shane insisted.

"Well, we must both be doin' the same 'shrooms 'cause I saw it, too." I responded.

Shane shrugged me off, putting himself between Rick and I. "Rick, it is dead, man. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down. Now, come on."

"Shane, will you listen to me?" I ordered, pulling on his shoulder, making him face me. The deputy pushed me away from him and I punched his back a couple times with the side of my fist. I was glad Daryl hadn't see that, or Shane would be lying on the ground, dead. "Stupid hick! This is the CDC. It's locked up. That sorta high tech shit doesn't just move on its own! If they want to see something, they see it!"

Shane just continued to ignore me as I sighed away, frustrated. "Man, just listen to me. Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick."

"Rick, don't you dare listen to him!" I pushed. "How could we have both imagined the same thing? You know what you saw, Rick!" Rick wasn't having any of it. He was letting Shane talk him out of what he saw. There was something about that guy that I didn't like.

"Rick, there's nobody here!" Lori shouted. I sent a glare her way. Shane tried to pull Rick away, with the help of Lori.

"Everybody get back to their cars now!" Shane demanded. Daryl was still busy fending off the walkers, so I moved my way to bang on the protective shutters.

"Let us in, you son of a bitch!" I shouted at the camera. "There are children here! We have no food, hardly any gas!" I banged again. "If you don't let us in, it's just like you bit us yourself!" Carol's hand tightened around my arm. She tried to pull me back to the vehicles. "No, Carol! Someone is in there! I know it! We need to get Sophia safe! He's gonna kill her!" I banged on the shutter with both fists.

"You're not gonna be any help if we don't get out of here." Carol said, calmly. "There's no one there."

I didn't want to believe it, but when I looked down to see the look on Sophia's face, it all just melted. She was so afraid. Staying here wasn't helping her. I sighed and grabbed both of their hands and tugged them along moving back towards the cars. Just as I took my fifth step, a loud bang came from behind us and I turned to see the shutter rising and bright light pouring out of it.

* * *

**I couldn't sleep at say 145. I had a thousand words to meet my minimum per chapter (3000 btws). And all of a sudden out pops this beautiful 3700 word chapter. You guys have an extra 700 words because I had a Mountain Dew before bed. Lucky You! Anyways sorry for the delay or the boring chapter, whichever you think is worse.**

**Next comes my FAVORITE EPISODE OF THE WALKING DEAD EVER, so i should be inclined to get the next couple out,****_possibly_**** sooner than this one came.**

**Enjoy, comment, subscribe, and do all that jazz.**

**3:)**


	6. Chapter 6

The light shone brightly from the inside of the building. I couldn't believe it. Granted, this was what I wanted, but I couldn't believe it. The door actually opened. Yelling at the hermits locked inside had actually worked. Never again will I doubt the power of a few choice words. No one could ever resist children, nor could they live with the fact that they were about to send them out into a dangerous world. Everybody moved forward. Rick showed that he was relieved and Shane seemed a little bitter. He hadn't gotten his way, and of course, Rick's plan had actually fell through.

Shane shouted out orders to the group while Rick and I just walked forward in awe. "Daryl, you cover the back." He said.

We all walked into the building. I followed shortly after Rick who was calling out trying to find someone. "Hello? Hello?!"

"Close those doors." Shane dictated. "Watch for walkers." We all gathered around in what seemed to be the building's lobby. Everything seemed to be a big shock to everyone that we all let our guards down, lowering our weapons. The inside was hug, and very well could be their home for a few days, which made me feel comfortable with the kids. Rick called out again before we heard the cocking of a gun. We quickly put our weapons up once again. There was a tall, blond man that came out from a back hallway.

"Anybody infected?" the man shouted.

Rick answered. "One of our group was." He paused. "He didn't make it."

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "In simpler terms, no." Shane shot a glare in my direction. I shrugged my shoulders. Why did he hate me so much?

"Why are you here? What do you want?" the man asked.

"A chance." Rick suggested, lowering his weapon a little bit.

"That's asking an awful lot these days." The man pointed out.

"I know." The man took a look around the room, looking at each one of us individually. I looked to the children who had on their best puppy dog looks. I smirked to myself, thinking what evil geniuses that they were. No one said anything for a moment, unsure of what was happening next. The guy seemed to be thinking about what he was going to do with all of us.

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

Rick nodded. "We can do that."

The man lowered his weapon and pointed to the door. "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed. Lori and I stayed inside the building with the children while everyone else ran out to their cars to retrieve their things. I was fine with it. I didn't have but what was in Daryl's backpack, so we wouldn't need much out of the truck. Plus, I got to keep an eye on Sophia since she had her hands wrapped around my lower arm. I kept her close and away from the stranger as everyone ran back in. T-Dog and Dale closed the doors after the last person straggled in. The man pushed a button on a panel next to the door and spoke into it. "VI, seal the man entrance." He ordered. "Kill the power up here." The protective shutters slowly close and lock themselves in place. I let out a sigh of relief, finally feelings safer. When I saw Rick walk over to the man, I leaned down to Sophia and told her to go with her mom. I stood closely behind Rick as he introduced himself.

Rick held out his hand for the man to shake. "Rick Grimes. This is Isabel Isaacs." The man looked down at his hand but didn't shake it.

"Doctor Edwin Jenner." The man said.

~~~

All of us took a single elevator ride down. I stood in between Daryl and Carol, Sophia in front of me. Even though we were safe locked up in here, she still looked afraid as she clung tightly to her doll the other little girl gave to her. I poked Daryl in the side when I noticed him sending hard glares at Jenner as we rode down. He shook me off and decided to make a smart ass comment.

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and shook my head at him.

I lowered my voice. "Could you keep your trap shut for a second? The man took us in, and he didn't have to."

Jenner shook his head. "He's just fine. Curious, is all." He directed his attention to Daryl. "There were plenty left just lying around. I took it upon myself to get familiarized." He looked around at the group again. I got defensive and grabbed onto Sophia, pulling her into Carol and I. "But you look harmless enough. Except you." he said, looking down at Carl. "I'll have to keep my eye on you." Carl smiled shyly up at the man. He didn't seem dangerous, but that didn't mean I was going to lighten my grip on the girl in front of me.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Jenner left out first everybody following shortly after. Daryl and I took the back of the line with Carol and Sophia directly in front of us.

"Are we underground?" Carol asked. I figured that we were. I was sure that we were on the ground floor when we entered the building and we were definitely going down in the elevator.

"You claustrophobic?" Jenner asked her, turning to see her.

"A little." Carol admitted.

I caught up to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Just try not to think about it, okay? We're safe." I told her. She nodded. We reached the end of the hallway, it opened up to a big circular room with desk areas with some sort of computer on them.

"VI, bring up the lights in the big room." Jenner said, aloud. The lights turned on in a circle around the computers. Jenner stopped walking and took a look at the room before turning his head slightly to us. "Welcome to Zone 5." He continued to walk down the slope to the middle of the room, everyone followed him.

"Where is everybody?" Rick asked the question that we were all wondering. "The other doctors, the staff?"

Jenner got to the center and stopped, turning to look at all of us. "I'm it." He said, simply. I stopped at the bottom of the slope the second his comment reached my ears. "It's just me here." He admitted solemnly. Rick looked down in defeat.

"What about the person you were speaking with?" Lori asked. "VI?"

"VI, say hello to our guests." Jenner ordered. "Tell them, welcome."

"Hello, guests." A female voice sounded. Only it wasn't actually a voice. It was a computer. "Welcome." It said, finally.

"I'm all that's left." Jenner informed. I was in completely disbelief. I looked to Daryl, confusion written on his face. He also didn't seem so surprised. My guess was that he figured that Jenner was all that's left. From the look of the outside it was obvious. There were a few of the dead that we passed who were in long white doctor's coats. "I'm sorry." Jenner said, before walking towards another room. We were all expected to follow him, but with the shock of what we just heard, it took us a minute to get going. I sat down in front of Jenner first, wanting to get this stupid blood thing over with. I wasn't at all fond of needles. I was hoping, Daryl would be a comfort, but he was behind just as stubborn as ever as he stood against the wall. Jenner immediately got to work on taking the blood from my arm. Jenner stuck my arm with the needle and I let a curse slip out under my breath. He took all he needed and I stood up from the chair and joined Carol and Sophia. He quickly moved through the group, Andrea going last, Jacqui standing behind her.

"What's the point?" Andrea asked. "If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever."

"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here. Let me just at least be thorough." Jenner said, before taking the syringe out of Andrea's arm and saying that he was done. She stood up and got a little dizzy. "Are you okay?"

"She hasn't eaten in days." Jacqui told him. "None of us have." Honestly, I had forgotten. I was hungry a lot of the time it seemed normal for me and I ignored the hunger pains. But put me in front of a table with food and booze, and I'll dig right in. we gathered around the table, Daryl and I not sitting down at the table, but holding our plates as we ate against the counters. Dale was going on about children drinking wine and trying to persuade Lori to let Carl have a little bit. I laughed at the sight of the family, still going through their 'firsts'. Carl didn't like the wine at all.

"Stick to soda pop, there, bud." Shane said, plainly.

"Not you, Glenn." Daryl said, pushing himself off of the counter to refill a few drinks.

"What?" Glenn asked, innocently.

"Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get." Everyone laughed, including me, silently next to him as I bumped him with my shoulder. Rick stood to toast Jenner, who I still hadn't completely gotten to trust. Shane, of course, had to kill the joyful mood by asking some serious questions that no one probably wanted to know the answer to. Apparently he is the only one left because many chose to run away or, as he said, opted out. That made my ears perk up. I couldn't say that I hadn't thought about it, but Daryl, I know wouldn't like that I had. Jenner was here to try and keep it going. There was no way that one man could figure out all that was going on.

~~~

After dinner, Jenner led up down a smaller hallway with a bunch of doors off to the side. "Most of the facility's been powered down. Including housing, so you're have to make do here." He said, gesturing to the rooms. "The couches are comfortable. But there are cots in storage, if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that I think you kids might enjoy." He stopped and leaned down to their level. "Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies – if you shower, go easy on the hot water." He pointed to us before leaving down the rest of the hallway. I looked up to Daryl, grin plastered on my face.

"Hot water?" I sighed. "That'd be nice." Daryl shrugged saying nothing. Carol and Sophia took one room and Daryl moved into one across the hall. I went up to Carol before she and Sophia disappeared into their room. "Carol." I called. She turned and smiled at me. "If you need anything, let me know, okay?"

Carol nodded. "I don't understand why you're being so kind to me, and Sophia, but I'm sure you'll tell me eventually. Thank you." she said earnestly.

I tried to smile. "I gotta soft spot for kids. You have the kind of childhood I did, and you always hope for the best for other kids."

"You really think that this is any better?" Carol asked, in remark to the dead coming back to life.

I sighed. "Maybe not yet. But we'll get it there. Before you know it, she'll be sixteen and being asked to homecoming by a boy she likes." I faked a smile down at Sophia. It was hard looking at her and seeing how young she was, living in a world like this. But I had to believe that it could get better. "I'll see you guys later." I assured them before retreating to the room Daryl had chosen. I entered the room seeing him moving to the attached bathroom while shedding his shirt. I smirked as I followed him into the bathroom, quickly walking passed him to jump onto the countered sink to sit on it, pushing the bottle of booze he stole from the kitchen. I looked at him. He just stared at me like I was crazy.

"What?" he asked, after a minute.

I smiled and shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I'm just a little happy. We don't have to worry about who is gonna keep watch tonight. I'm actually full. And we have a bed. Well, a couch. But still, it's nice, I guess. Not to worry about what's going to happen for a little while."

Daryl gave me a look. "Don't let your guard down, Iz." He ordered.

"Yes, sir." I joked, faking a salute.

"Whachu doin' that for?"

"You treat me like I'm some sorta soldier." I pouted. "I'm your friend, Daryl." I held out my hand for him to take. He didn't take it, but he moved to stand in front of me.

"And sometimes you're a child." He slurred.

I laughed at him, "You're drunk."

"I 'member that you liked it when I was drunk." He walked forward and moved so he stood in between my legs.

"You were a lot easier to take advantage of. You let go when you drank, and it was more fun." I teased. If I was sober, I probably never would have let this happen. But being in a safe place and drinking until I couldn't see straight, I threw just about all my morals out the window.

"How about now? Ya gon take advantage of me now?" he said, quietly, with a smirk plastered on his face. I shrugged sliding my hands up his arms and down his chest.

"I was kinda thinkin' about a shower." I said, pushing him out of my way to get the water going. "You can join me if you want though." I disposed of my clothes, stripping in front of him, before I entered the shower, moaning against the feel of the warm water against my skin. I ran my hands through my hair, making sure to get it all wet. "D, you gotta get in here." I begged. In a minute he had opened the shower door and joined me. Without warning, he grabbed me and pushed me against the shower wall, holding me there. His mouth went to the crook of my neck, leaving soft kisses all the way up to my ear.

"Only I'm supposed ta make you moan like that." he whispered, huskily in my ear. I whimpered when he bit down on my ear lobe.

"Well, go on then." I urged, before completely letting go.

~~~

_The girl sat down on the rock in the middle of the woods. She remembered this boulder as the one she and Daryl sat down on the day that she found out what his father was doing to him. He never really said why he did it that day. Isabel figured that he didn't want to talk about it. In all honesty, he figured that he hadn't done anything. His father was probably just mad about Merle leaving and decided to take it out on the only other person there. But that was almost three years ago._

On this day, the day of the girl's seventeenth birthday, she was awaiting Daryl who was planning on celebrating with her at her house. Her mom was probably already passed out on the couch or out at some guys house spending the weekend, while his wife was away on vacation with her kids.

Daryl soon straggled through the trees and arrived at the spot directly in between their two houses. Isabel smiled and stood when she saw him. She ran to him and jumped into his arms. He smiled big and held onto her lifting her in the air. He let her down and kissed her hard on the mouth.

"Happy birthday, Izzy." He mumbled.

"Mmm, thank you." she said, before kissing him again. She backed away before things could go any farther there in the forest. Not like being in the forest had ever stopped them before, but tonight was different. She wanted to enjoy being with Daryl before she slept with him and he would leave shortly after. "Did you get it?" Isabel asked. Daryl nodded, before pulling a bottle that he stole from his father's booze stash. He would never know that it was missing. So he and Isabel planned on drinking an entire bottle themselves. "C'mon. let's go." She said, Daryl wrapped an arm around her shoulders and the two walked quietly back to Isabel's house. Just as she figured, her mother wasn't home, so the two had the place to themselves. The two went to her room and put in a movie that they weren't going to watch.

Halfway through the bottle and a movie and a half later, they were on the floor, paying more attention to each other than they were their movie. Daryl's hands roamed her body while hers ran through his hair. Daryl stopped abruptly and held himself above her with his elbows. He stared at her for a minute. She looked up at him questioningly.

"What?" she asked. He shrugged to the best of his ability.

"I love you." Daryl said.

Isabel furrowed her brow. "I'm sorry what?"

"I love you." he repeated. Isabel pushed him off of her. "What? I thought that's where we were. The guys says 'I love you' and the girl says it back."

"It is, D. I just I guess I'm surprised. I don't really expect that from you. You and I…we're just fooling around. We don't need the sappy relationship crap. We're friends, Daryl. We comfort each other. That's enough for me." Isabel was being honest, but little did she know, so was Daryl. He really believed that he loved her, and he'd just been shot down.

* * *

Well, I wrote this in a few hours, I really hope it doesn't show.

Do you guys like the flashbacks? Please let me know. I do have a couple things planned for where this is going and that does include flashbacks, but if you don't like them I can figure out a way to work around them.

Sorry for taking so long, but I've been writing up a storm lately. So enjoy, comment, and subscribe.

:)3


	7. Chapter 7

I woke up in the middle of the night with an arm draped over my stomach. I turned my head, noticing that Daryl was right there, sleeping very closely. I sighed, and attempted to move out of his arms. His grip tightened, defensively. I laughed, silently.

"Daryl." I called, trying to wake him up. He groaned but didn't wake. "Daryl." I said, a little bit louder, hitting him with my free arm. He woke with a start, an angry look on his face, and the hand that was around my waist was now held up over my body, in an attempt to hit me. I grabbed his wrist before he could drop it on me. "Daryl, stop!" I said, my grip weakening on his wrist.

He woke up fully and noticed what was going on. He quickly backed away from me, afraid of what he had just done. "Iz, shit. I – " I held up my hand to stop him from talking. "No, I'm – "

"Daryl!" I said, forcefully, just wanting him to drop it. "It's fine." I crawled off of the couch. "I shouldn't have done that." I whispered before walking to the bathroom. I heard him stand up from the couch and follow me, but I closed the door and locked it before he could catch me. I leaned on the door and slid down to the floor. I sighed, pushing my hair out of my face.

Daryl knocked on the door. "Isabel, open the door."

I groaned. "I'm usin' the bathroom you dumb hick."

"No, ya ain't. I can see yer shadow from under the door. 'M sorry." I let out a breath and moved to the wall, and reached up to open the door. He saw me sitting on the ground and sat down next to me against the wall. We sat in silence for a moment, I was waiting for him to say something and he was probably waiting for me to start. He sighed. "I always said I'd never hurt ya. An' I won't, ya know?"

I nodded looking at one of the bathroom tiles that all of a sudden caught my interest. "An' you're so good about bein' careful. Just sometimes it's still scary. You were good. You're not like him and I know that." Daryl only nodded in response. I could tell that he didn't want to talk about it anymore. Talking about his father and his past made him upset. I know he always wondered if he could have done any better as a father, but it was too far gone to be worrying about that now. I would never bring another child into this world. Sophia and Carl were enough for me, and even then I was still insanely scared on what was going to happen with them. I could tell Daryl was, too. Especially with Sophia. He was so protective over the little girl and even Carol. Daryl and the two had so much in common with what Ed did to them, and Daryl's father did to him. I knew Daryl was glad to see that he'd been beat by Shane and then killed by walkers.

"I know yer gettin' close to that woman and her daughter."

I shrugged. "I just want to keep them close and safe. Carol can barely fend for herself." A lump formed in my throat. I tried to cough it out, but it didn't work. I felt the water burn my eyes as a tear rolled down my cheek. "I don't want to watch that little girl die." I said, dryly, as I moved to lay my head on Daryl's shoulder.

Daryl put an arm around me. "I know." Daryl said, softly. "Me neither." He agreed.

~~~

I got to sleep soon after all of that, but awoke a few hours later with a pounding in my head. It was worse than I've felt in a long time. I guess I hadn't realized how long it's been since I had anything to drink. I crawled out of Daryl's grasp, since he was still asleep, and went down to the room where we all sat and ate last night.

"Morning." Carl called as I strolled in. I walked over to him and messed up his hair a little bit.

"Mornin', Bud." I said, holding a hand to my head, trying to force the pain from it. Lori noticed and handed me a pill bottle. "Oh, my gosh. You're my savior." I said, quickly getting the bottle open and taking some medicine for me and then for Daryl. I put the bottle back on the table. "Thanks, Lori." She nodded, keeping her eyes on her plate of food. "That looks good." I commented.

"Well, have some of your own." T-Dog said, coming out from behind the counter. He had a pan of bacon and eggs in his hands.

"Thanks, T." I grabbed a couple plates and gathered some food for Daryl and I. Glenn was hunched over his plate, with his head in his hands. I laughed at the sight. "How you feelin', Glenn?" I asked him.

"Never let me drink again."

I laughed. "You just don't know how to cope with it." I put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "You should eat up though. It'll make you feel better. I promise." I looked up to the few people who were sitting at the table. "I'll see you guys in a bit. I'm gonna take this to Daryl." they all nodded. As I left, I passed Carol and Sophia who were on their way in. "Hey." I said, in passing.

"Ms. Isabel?" the little voice called. I stopped and turned back to look at the two. Carol was looking at her daughter questioningly.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for checking up on me and my mom." Sophia said. My eyes began to water, for a reason completely unknown to me.

I nodded, though. "You're very welcome, sweetie." I said, with a smile. I turned back around, unable to dry my eyes because of the plates in my hand. I breathed deeply trying to my the lump in my throat go away. It amazed me how just a few days ago, I barely knew these people. Now, I know that I would do anything for any of them. Expect maybe Shane. For some reason, I just don't get the right vibe from him. It might have been the fact that he pushed me away yesterday, but that was beside the point. When I arrived back to the room, Daryl was in the bathroom washing off his face. I waited for him out in the main room. We ate in silence. He decided that he didn't want the pills, and settled for drinking more from his bottle that he had last night. As much as I tried to push him away from it, I didn't want to start a fight with him. "You done?" Daryl nodded. "C'mon. I told everyone we'd come out from hiding when you woke." We headed out of the room and went to the eating area to see everyone else walking out of it. "What's going on?" I asked Carol.

"He's going to tell us what is going on." I nodded, going back to Daryl having us be at the end of the line. We went back to Zone 5, and Jenner hit a few buttons on his computer. Everyone was confused, Daryl stayed back and continued to drink from his bottle.

Jenner looked down at his screen. "Give me playback of TS-19." He told his computer.

"Playback of TS-19." VI repeated back. The big screen ahead of us, started to show a bunch a brain scans, and other things that I didn't really understand.

Jenner turned to face us. "Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few," he admitted.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked.

Jenner looked down at him. "An extraordinary one." Jenner told him. "Not that it matters in the end." He said, more solemnly. Daryl and I moved up to his left and stood there, annoyed, just wanting him to continue. "Take us in for EIV."

"Enhanced Internal View." VI said. The enhanced view took us inside the brain stem where we saw all of the nerves that encompassed it.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked.

"That's a person's life." Jenner responded. "Experiences, memories. It's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you. the thing that makes you unique. And human."

"You don't make sense? Ever?" Daryl asked. I elbowed him, he simply responded by pulling me into him and putting an arm around my shoulders to rub his thumb over it.

"Those are synapses, electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says, does, or things from the moment of birth to the moment of death."

"Death?" Rick asked stepping forward. "That's what this is, a vigil?"

"Yes." Jenner admitted. "Or rather, the playback of the vigil." He corrected. I pulled myself out of Daryl's grasp and moved forward to watch the video closely.

"This person died?" Andrea asked. "Who?"

"Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten…and infected…and volunteered to have us record the process." Jenner paused. "VI, scan forward to the first event."

"Scanning to first event." VI said. It fast forwarded and then all the nerves turned dark and black.

"What is that?" Glenn gasped.

I nodded. "Why is it all black?"

Jenner pointed up to the screen. "It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs." After he said that, everything in the brain stopped moving. "Then death." He paused. "Everything you ever were or ever will be…gone." I looked to Andrea who seemed to be taking this harder than the rest of us, since her sister had just died.

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked her mother.

Carol looked down at her daughter. "Yes." She said, then looked over to me. I took a deep breath and looked to Daryl, who couldn't look away from the screen. My eyes started to water, thinking about everyone we've lost, going out in this way. Jenner couldn't stop staring at Andrea, probably wondering why she was so upset.

"She lost somebody two days ago." Lori clarified. "Her sister."

"I lost somebody, too." Jenner said gently. "I know how devastating it is." He turned back to the screen. "Scan to the second event."

"Scanning to second event." VI said.

"The resurrection time vary wildly." Jenner informed. "We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute, seven seconds." I looked at him, confused. Granted her was a doctor, but he really didn't have to memorize her reanimation time to the second.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori questioned.

"No," Jenner corrected. "Just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving."

"But they're not alive?" Rick asked.

"You tell me." Jenner challenged.

"It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark."

"Rick's right." I added. "That's not living. All the thoughts and memories are gone."

"The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part – that doesn't come back. The you part. Just a shell, driven by mindless instinct." Just then a flash moved across the screen, making me jump.

"What the hell was that?" I asked.

"He shot his patient in the head." Andrea said, confidently. She looked towards Jenner. "Didn't you?"

"VI, power down the main screen." Jenner advised. "And the work stations." VI repeated his words and complied. I looked to Daryl who had his arms crossed and was looking at the ground. I could tell that he was trying to figure everything out.

"You have no idea what it is," Andrea accused. "Do you?" Everyone looked to Jenner. When he hesitated, I knew his answer and walked backwards into Daryl's embrace.

"It could be microbial, parasitic, viral, fungal." Jenner guessed.

"Or the wrath of God." Jacqui suggested.

"There is that."

"Somebody must know something." Andrea begged. "Somebody, somewhere."

"There are others, right?" Carol asked. "Other facilities?"

"There may be some." Jenner cited. "People like me."

"But you don't know." I complained. Jenner shook his head.

"How can you not know?" Rick grumbled.

"Everything went down. Communications, directives. All of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month."

"So it's not just here?" Andrea asked. "There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?" When Jenner didn't answer we knew. Andrea scoffed. A few people gasped in shock.

Daryl dropped his grip from me and walked away. "Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk again." He said. I followed him, agreeing.

Dale stepped forward. "Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but…" he turned to the side and pointed to the display on the wall. "that clock…it's counting down. What happens at zero?"

Jenner stumbled with his words. "The basement generators…they run out of fuel."

"And then?" Rick asked, but Jenner walked away, not answering. "VI, what happens when the power runs out?"

"When the power runs out," VI said, "facility-wide decontamination will occur."

My eyes widened. "Well, what the hell does that mean?" I asked Daryl. He just shook his head and grabbed my arm, leading me back into the room that we slept in. "Daryl, do you know what that means?" I asked, once we hit the hallway.

"No, but it don't sound good." He admitted. When we got to the room, Daryl scrambled to make sure all of his stuff was packed up.

"Daryl?" I followed him around the room. "What are you doing? What's going on?" he didn't answer me. Instead, he packed up a few things that he had found just lying around the room that he thought we would need. I groaned. "Daryl!" I shouted at him. He jerked up and turned to me. I looked at him questioningly and raised my arms to the side.

He shook his head and put my face in his hands. "Nothin's wrong. It's just a feelin', okay?"

"Your feelings are almost always right, Daryl." I said, worried and shaken.

"Look, just grab what ya find useful. Nothin's wrong. This it jus' if we need to get away quick." He looked me in the eyes and I could tell that he was lying, but I nodded my head anyway. He planted a quick kiss on my lips and then went to grab his bottle of booze from last night. I finished the packing, knowing that I could do it better. In a minute, the lights went out. I moved to turn them on again, but it didn't work. I turned to Daryl. He stood from the desk, taking the bottle with him and leaned out the door. "What's going on?" he questioned. "Why is everything turned off?" Jenner walked by just as he asked and he stole Daryl's bottle. Daryl followed him and I jogged out of the room. I grabbed Carol and Sophia and kept them close to me

"Energy use is being prioritized." Jenner responded.

"Air isn't a priority?" Dale asked. "And lights?"

Jenner shook his head. "It's not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down."

Daryl obviously wasn't very happy about his answer. Daryl followed quickly after Jenner. "Hey!" he called. "Hey, what the hell does that mean?" Jenner didn't respond, but kept walking into the big circle room. "Hey, man, I'm talking to you! What do you mean it's shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?" I looked to Carol who gripped Sophia tightly. She looked scared.

"Daryl will figure this out." I comforted. "We'll be fine. I promise."

"Rick?" Lori called over the railing. I watched as he held a hand up to her to calm her. He'd handle it.

"Jenner, what's happening?" Rick asked.

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power." Jenner explained. "It's designed to keep the computer running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark." Jenner pointed to the countdown on the wall. "Right on schedule." Jenner stopped at the stairs to the work stations and took a drink from the bottle he stole from Daryl, that he politely returned when he was satisfied. He turned back to Andrea. "It was the French."

"What?" she asked.

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know." Jenner said. "While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs till the end. They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened?" Jacqui questioned.

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran outta juice." Jenner turned and continued to the workstations. "The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?"

Shane threw himself up the stairs. "Let me tell you – "

Rick interrupted him. "To hell with it, Shane. I don't even care. Lori, grab out things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here _now!_" I immediately turned around, pulling Carol and Sophia back the way we came. Alarms started blaring, making me jump and stop to a halt.

"What was that?" Shane exclaimed.

VI soon responded "Thirty minutes to decontamination."

I looked to Daryl. He held up a waiting finger to me. "Doc, what's going on here?" he demanded. Jenner didn't answer.

"Everybody!" Shane shouted. "Y'all heard Rick. Get your stuff and let's go! Go now! Go!" I was almost caught up to Rick by the door when it slid up and closed us in.

"Did you just lock us in?!" Glenn asked. "He just locked up in!" I looked to Daryl, who looked extremely angry. Daryl ran up the stairs towards the doctor.

"You son of a bitch!" he shouted at him.

Rick noticed his charge and pointed at him. "Shane!"

"Daryl, don't!" I said to him, letting Carol go to chase him.

"You locked us in here!" Daryl accused.

"No, stop!" Shane yelled. "Don't!"

"You lying – " Daryl started but Shane pulled him away from the doctor telling him to stop. I trailed Shane and grabbed Daryl's arm. He just pushed me away from him, making me fall to the ground. Carol ran to collect me, while T-Dog helped Shane.

"I'm fine." I told Carol. She grabbed my arm, and pulled me off the floor. I brushed myself off. I couldn't look at Daryl, so I followed Rick who went up to Jenner.

"Jenner, open those doors." Rick ordered.

"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed. I can't open them. That's the computer's job. I told you: once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again."

"There may be no point for you, but we'll force ourselves out." I told him. "Now, open the damn door!"

"It's better this way." Jenner assured.

"What is?" I asked, "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" Daryl had calmed down and reached for my arm, but I just shrugged him off angrily. He didn't answer. Shane hit the doctor's back.

"What happens in twenty-eight minutes?!" Rick repeated my question.

"Come on!" Daryl urged Jenner.

Jenner stood up and got in my face. "You know what this place is?!" I cowered back into Carol. Jenner turned to Rick. "We protected the public from very nasty stuff!" Jenner's words were directed at everyone now. Weaponized small pox. Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" Jenner straightened his coat and sat back in his chair. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure, in a terrorist attack, for example, H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

"H.I.T.s?" Rick questioned.

"VI, define."

The computer spoke. "H.I.T.s, high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives, consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear." My stomach sank. I rubbed my face and pushed my hair out of my face. I looked to Daryl, pain in his eyes. Everyone knew that meant. This place was going to blow. He quickly moved towards me and wrapped his arms around me. I didn't fight him. I didn't care that he pushed me around. I couldn't knowing that we were going to die. "The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen at between five thousand and six thousand degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."

"It sets the air on fire." Jenner clarified. "No pain." I pulled out of Daryl's arms, but he kept one arm on my shoulder, and looked back to Carol and Sophia to see them crying and holding each other. "An end to sorrow, grief…regret." He paused and looked around. "Everything." I moved back into Daryl's arms and cried into his chest, while he had his hand, laced in my hair.

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**Comment, subscribe, and do what you want! Enjoy**

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	8. Please Read

Hey, guys. I'm sorry about the fake-out chapter. I hate it when people do this because I get so excited for the next chapter, only to have my hopes brought down by a stupid author's note.

However, this is very necessary because I don't want you guys to get confused when I post the next chapter. I have seriously considered this, thinking about it for the last couple days and I think that this is the way to go.

From this point on, I am going to be posting chapters in third person instead of first. I found that i enjoy writing as a narrator instead of a character. It will also be easier to get other people's feelings written across easily without switch point of views.

So, this will happen beginning the next chapter. I'm sorry if you don't like this change, but I believe it will help me write better.

I love you guys, and thanks for all the support, comments, recommendations, and everything else. You're all beautiful and you're the reason I keep writing.

Also I am thinking of going back and re-writing those chapters written in first person, to make it less complicated for those new readers.


	9. Chapter 8

_Two years later, Isabell's mom just got up and moved away. The girl figured that her mom was done taking care of her (since Isabell was now of age to live on her own) and decided to run off with one her weekend getaways. Things between Daryl and Isabell have remained as they ever were since Daryl told her he loved her. She just let it go and forgot about it like it never happened. Daryl struggled to never bring it up again since his feelings for her were, what he believed, true. Every time he thought about life without her, his chest became clenched up and he had a hard time breathing. It would be hard to live in a world without his best friend. They had been through everything together, having lived next door their whole lives. Now though, they had a house together, with separate rooms for each and one to spare. They would still go one with the time that they spent together in a bed, but they never slept overnight with each other. Daryl had asked a few times for her to just stay, but when he drifted off to sleep, she was always gone before he woke again._

Just days after her mother left, Isabell received a phone call at the old house as she was packing it up. The call was from someone claiming to be her brother. At first, she couldn't remember ever having any siblings. As she dug further back into her memory, she remembered him. He was more than twelve years older than her and had moved on to have his own family well before she could even learn who this other person living in the house was. The two kept in contact over time. Isabell was even there for the birth of her first niece.

Daryl's older brother, Merle, was another story. He had never really been nice to Isabell. When they were little, she was a girl almost six years younger than him, and it wasn't okay for her to be around. Then as they got older, it seemed that the girl was trying to change Daryl, and make him do his homework or study for the upcoming test. In Merle's eyes all Daryl needed to know was how to live on his own. It didn't matter how good he did in school and what grade he got. He'd be fine keeping to himself, hunting for his own food and selling to local markets. He didn't need smarts so long as he had brawn.

Daryl was always torn between his brother and his best friend. Eventually, he had a hard time choosing and dragged Isabell along with him when Merle took him hunting. Isabell still quizzed Daryl on camping trips, when Merle hadn't told her to 'shush, you're scaring away the game.' Isabell would just roll her eyes and try again later.

They never expected Merle to come back, but when he did, he seemed to think that he belonged there with them. Merle said that his little brother owed him and it wasn't like they didn't have the extra room. Isabell was reluctant, keeping a firm no, until Daryl found his way to get her to agree, promising that he wouldn't ask her to stay in his bed so long as Merle lived with them. Isabell rolled her eyes and finally agreed to let Merle stay. He really didn't do much to help out. He went out hunting every weekend and brought home a bunch of meat for Isabell to cook up. When it came to cleaning, Merle wouldn't have it. He wouldn't clean up his own messes, let alone someone else's. Isabell was fine with doing the house cleaning as long as Merle's messes kept to his room. Daryl knew that Isabell didn't like having Merle around, but he was thankful that she was willing to put up with Merle for him. It just made him love her even more.

~~~~~

Daryl had been attempting to hack at the giant steel doors for a while now. He had let Isabell go sit down beside Carol and Sophia, holding the two of them together. Carol was distraught over Jenner locking them in and putting their fate in his own hands. They all wanted to fight to live, even if it meant living in a world where all they did was fight for the rest of their lives. At least they would have died trying to fight to get the world back to normal.

Isabell was also mad that Jenner took things into his own hands. She was on the fence thought whether she really would want to go back out there. There was nothing left for her in the world. Her entire life had been ripped to shreds the night of the breakout. Daryl was the only family she had left, and even that relationship was really confusing.

When Daryl got tired of swinging the axe at a door that wasn't going to break, he grabbed the bottle of alcohol he had and threw it against the steel. He turned back to the center of the room. "Open the damn door!" he shouted at Jenner. Jenner didn't seem to be phased by his voice. Someone had actually shushed Daryl. Isabell scoffed thinking to herself that telling him to be quiet never worked. Shane joined Daryl after finding another axe and hit at the door himself thinking that he could do better. Isabell stayed cuddled to her new friends, letting them try to fight their way out. Daryl grabbed his axe again. Maybe the two of them working at one time would benefit.

Jenner turned to look at Isabell. "You should've left well enough alone. It would have been so much easier."

"Easier for who?!" The blonde demanded.

"All of you." Jenner stated calmly. "You know what's out there. There's a short, brutal life and an agonizing death." He looked to Andrea. "Your – your sister, what was her name?"

"Andrea, don't answer him." Isabell advised.

"Amy," she said anyway. Isabell rolled her eyes.

"Amy." Jenner repeated. "You know what this does. You've seen it." Jenner turned to the newly arrived Rick. "Is that really what you want for your wife and son?" Shane and Daryl stopped throwing the axes to the wall and joined the center of the room.

"I don't want _this_." Rick stressed. Rick turned back to Shane, who was leaned over a set of computers, trying to get his breathing back to normal.

"Can't make a dent." Shane said.

"Those doors are meant to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner informed.

Daryl came forward swinging the axe behind him. "Well, your head ain't!" Rick, Dale, and T-Dog held him back. Isabell pushed herself off the ground and pushed Daryl to the back of the group, leaving people in between him and Jenner acting as a wall.

"You do want this." Jenner said. "Last night," he looked to Rick, "You said that you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead." Everybody looked up at Rick, wide-eyed, including Isabell, who had just put herself on Rick's team, finally believing what he said was all a good idea.

"What you really said that?" Shane asked him. "After all your big talk?"

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick asked, looking down at Lori.

"There is no hope." Jenner believed. "There never was."

"There is always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but somebody, somewhere – "

"What part of 'everything is gone' do you not understand?" Andrea asked from her spot on the floor.

"Listen to your friend." Jenner counseled. "She gets it."

"That's because she believes she's lost her family." Isabell said, stepping forward, looking to Dale, who looked rather upset to see her give up like she had. Andrea sent a glare in Isabell's directions, but didn't say anything.

"This is what takes us down." Jenner said. "this is our extinction event."

"This isn't right." Carol cried. Isabell joined her at her side, crouching by Carol. "You can't just keep us here."

"One tiny moment. A millisecond. No pain."

"I don' care if I still feel alive after. This isn't your decision to make." Isabell argued.

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like _this_." Carol stressed. Isabell stood up and took Sophia from her mom. She wanted to get the two away from Jenner so they would calm down. Isabell saw Shane walk away angrily as she wrapped an arm around Sophia's shoulders.

"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Jenner asked. Behind them Isabell heard a gun cock and she grabbed ahold of Sophia, holding the girl to her body, just in case. Shane came up behind them barreling through. Rick called out to stop Shane from going to Jenner.

"Out of the way, Rick!" Shane ordered, pushing him away. "Stay out of my way!" Shane put the barrel of the gun right to Jenner's face. "Open that door. Or Ima blow your head off. Do you hear me?!" Rick attempted to talk Shane out of what he was doing. Isabell looked to Daryl who was just staring at what was going on. Shane screamed and fired a shot. Isabell pulled Carol and Sophia and put herself in between them and Shane's shots. Rick fought for the gun from Shane. He grabbed ahold of it and hit Shane upside the head with it.

"Are you done now? Are you done!?" Rick screamed to Shane who was laying on the floor.

"Yeah, I guess we all are." Shane snapped, glaring back at Rick. The room was silent, everybody just staring at Rick. Isabell had unwrapped herself from around the little girl and her mom. She looked up at Daryl, waiting for him to say something that would make her think they were going to get out of here.

Daryl didn't. Instead, he went to try again at the door. But Rick tried. "I think you're lying." He said to Jenner.

"What?"

"You're lying about no hope. If that were true, you would have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out." Rick said. Isabell saw where he was going with it. "You chose the hard path. Why?"

"It doesn't matter." Jenner insisted, shaking his head. Isabell stepped towards Jenner.

"It does matter." Isabell said. "It matters to us. We woulda been dead yesterday if you hadn't been here and open those doors. You stayed when the others ran. Why?"

"Not because I wanted to." Jenner said, looking at Isabell, then to Rick. He stood up in Rick's face. "I made a promise…" he pointed his finger up to the big screen. "To her."

Isabell furrowed her brow. "You knew TS-19?" she asked.

Jenner nodded. "She was my wife." He admitted.

"Test subject nineteen was your wife?" Lori asked to clarify.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. She wanted me to find a cure. She let us watch her development. How could I say no? She was dying. It should have been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein. Me? I'm just…Edwin Jenner." He admitted, shaking his head, with no faith in himself. "She could've done something about this. Not me."

"Your wife didn't have a choice." Rick told him. "You do. That's all we want. A choice. A chance."

"Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori begged. Jenner debated in his head.

"You saved these kids' lives, our lives once. Please, just one more time." Isabell said, looking back at the kids.

"I told you, topside's locked down. I can't open those." Jenner said, moving around Rick to go to his computer. Isabell grabbed Sophia and Carol, walking towards Daryl, throwing his axe at the door. Jenner pushed a few buttons on his pad and the door opened.

"Come on!" Daryl called to everyone, leading Isabell through the hallway with her tagalongs. Everyone stopped abruptly, looking back at Rick who was talking with Jenner. Isabell pulled on Carol's arm though and lead her to the rooms with all their stuff. She wasn't going to wait around anymore, they were getting out of there as quickly as they could.

"Daryl!" Isabell called, wondering why he wasn't going with them.

"Go!" he ordered, sternly. She looked at his face, running backwards, shaking her head. "I'll be right there!" he promised. "Go!" Isabell nodded, and continued to pull Carol down to their rooms. Her and Daryl's bag was already packed so she just grabbed it from inside the door and put it around her shoulders. She ran to help Carol get her stuff altogether. Then she remembered that T-Dog hadn't followed them either and she went to his room to get his bag, too.

"What now?" Carol asked, feeling rushed.

"The lobby." Isabell said, trying her hardest to stay calm. She grabbed onto Sophia's arm and pulled her back into the lobby. When they arrived, Isabell let out a breath seeing Daryl there, trying to get the doors open with the help of T-Dog. She pat herself on the back for thinking quickly about T-Dog's bag. Shane ran up to the windows on the side with his axe.

"Daryl!" Shane called. Daryl ran over to the windows with his axe and began helping Shane hack away at the glass that didn't seem to want to break.

"Carol, we're gonna stay back here. Just in case something breaks." Isabell said to her friend.

Carol nodded. "Stay close, sweetheart." She said to her daughter. Shane got defeated and came up with another idea.

"Get away from the window." He told Daryl as he went back to his bag for his shotgun. Daryl stepped back, looking to Isabell. She nodded, reassuring him that they were alright. He nodded once and watched as Shane let off a shot into the window, to no avail.

"The glass won't break?" Sophia cried, worriedly. Isabell crouched down to her level, pushing her hair behind her ears.

"Don't worry. I promise you, we'll get out of here. Daryl's gonna do everything that he can. He always does." She told her. Sophia nodded, and Isabell pulled her into a hug. Carol grabbed her bag and walked toward Rick.

"Rick," Carol said. "I have something that might help." She reached into her bag.

"Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it." Shane said, sarcastically. Isabell rolled her eyes.

Carol ignored Shane's remarks and turned to Rick. "Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform, I found this in your pocket." Carol pulled out a grenade and held it out to Rick, her hand shaking. Rick looked at her, debating in his head. He nodded and grabbed the explosive out of Carol's hands. Carol immediately turned and ran back to Sophia.

"You two stay right here." Isabell ordered. "Keep your body over her." she told Carol. Carol nodded, and hugged her daughter.

"Look out!" Rick shouted in the lobby. Everybody backed up to where Carol and Isabell were hanging back. Daryl joined Isabell and put himself over her to protect her from the blast. Rick ran back toward the group. "Get down!" he shouted. The blast was so loud that even Isabell's hands over her ears, she could still feel like her eardrums were being burst. Daryl pulled Isabell up and grabbed their bag. Isabell made sure that she had a hold on Carol and Sophia as she pushed them in front of her. Carol went through the window first, Isabell handing Sophia down to her. They ran the rest of the way, Carol holding on to her daughter and Isabell running behind them just in case they were to fall.

"Get in the car!" she told them as they passed the yellow station wagon. She continued to run to Daryl's blue truck. Daryl threw their bag in the bed of the truck while Isabell climbed in. Daryl got in and pulled her down over the center and put his body over hers like he had in the CDC lobby. She reached for his hand and held it tight awaiting the blast that they knew was coming. The blast went and it seemed to slow down. The two sat up in their seats, Isabell's hand not leaving his as the two watched the building fall apart. Motion caught Isabell's eye and she leaned to her right to see Andrea and Dale get up and get in the RV. She turned to Daryl. "Who stayed?" she asked.

Daryl shook his head. "Just Jacqui." He said. Isabell nodded. She pulled her hand out of his grasp and put it on the side of his face. She pulled his face towards her and kissed him hard. Daryl responded and his mouth moved against hers. Isabell pulled away when she needed a breath. "What was that for?" he asked, leaning his forehead against hers.

Isabell just shook her head. "Just thank you. You're amazing and I know that you didn't mean to push me. You're just angry, tryin' not to get me killed. Tryin' to do everythin' to protect me. Made me think of a long time ago…" she trailed off. He furrowed his brow. "When you told me that you loved me. On my birthday."

Daryl sat back in the driver's seat. "I thought you forgot."

Isabell shook her head. "How could I forget the first time anyone told me that they love me?"

* * *

**Well, here is the first chapter written in third person. I hoped you enjoyed it.**

**Shorty after I'm done here, I will be going back and reposting Chapter 1 in third person. I am going to try to post a rewritten chapter at the same time I post a new chapter.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy! Tell me what you think of the third person.**

**3:)**


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